Cynopsis: DIGITAL
12.14.12

Good morning. It’s Friday, December 14, 2012, and this is your first early morning digital briefing.

63% of video viewing on mobile phones happens inside the home, according to new data from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB). In addition, 36% of this home-based digital video consumption happens in a room where a second screen — TV, desktop computer, or tablet — is accessible. IAB says this means there are significant cross-media opportunities available for brand marketers, whether that means synching digital video to live TV programming, or linking magazine ads to relevant mobile video clips, or something else. On Device Research conducted this study, collecting smartphone and feature phone users to keep detailed “day in the life” diaries about their mobile video usage for two weeks, as well as participating in pre- and post-diary surveys. Among the other findings:

• 92% of respondents said they share video content they have watched on their phone with others.
• 22% of “video interactions” on mobile phones were to access content viewers planned to watch, while 18% were done so out of boredom, and 3% because no other screen was available.
• The most popular mobile video genres are music videos (45%), movie trailers (42%), tutorials/how-to clips (41%), and comedy shorts (37%). Comedy shorts (66%) and music videos (52%) were most likely to be shared.

• 53% of respondents felt positively or neutral about mobile video ads. 48% said they would prefer watching video ads related to the content of the clip being watched.

A+E Networks has launched its first collection of TV Everywhere apps for A&E, History Channel, and Lifetime. Developed by Bottle Rocket, the free apps let users watch full episodes and video clips of A+E Networks programming, including current and previous seasons of A&E’s Storage Wars and Duck Dynasty, History’s Pawn Stars and Swamp People, and Lifetime’s Project Runway and Dance Moms. At the moment, it looks like Comcast Xfinity TV subscribers will be the first to have TV Everywhere access, provided that they first verify Xfinity TV as their video provider. A+E says it will add support for additional distributors in early 2013. Currently only available on the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch versions will arrive in January, and Android versions will roll out sometime during the first quarter of 2013.

Amazon has finally brought its Instant Video app to the iPhone and iPod Touch. The app lets Amazon Prime subscribers stream over 30,000 film and TV titles from the Prime Instant Video library. Users also have access to over 140,000 movies and TV episodes that can be purchased or rented. Several things to note: This app does not support AirPlay. It does feature Amazon’s Whispersync technology, which allows users to stop watching a video and then resume from that same spot on another Instant Video-enabled device. Users can’t purchase or rent videos directly from the app, they have to go online to do so. There, users can also subscribe to a TV Season Pass for a current show; Amazon will then make the newest episodes available on the app the day after they air.

MyRecipes Network, Time Inc. Lifestyle Group’s food and recipe site, has launched a new mobile-optimized website. The mobile site offers access to 70,000+ recipes, as well as menus, slideshows, and videos. E-commerce options include shopping lists and local grocery deals. 

Buyer registration numbers and exhibiting companies for NATPE‘s 50th Anniversary market and conference are outpacing those of recent years, according to NATPE President and CEO Rod Perth. The conference, which takes place January 28-30 in Miami, is focused on the theme of “Beyond Disruption.” The number of exhibitors is approaching 300, including every major studio as well as 27 companies that are exhibiting for the first time. If you’re attending, here are some tracks and speakers relevant to digital video that you might want to pay attention to:

• “Game Changers”: Larry King, Host, Larry King Now, Hulu; Alex Carloss, Global Head of Entertainment Partnerships, YouTube; Howard Stein, Head of Entertainment Strategy, Facebook; Chet Kanojia, Founder and CEO, Aereo; Werner Bell, Managing Director, Red Bull Media House North America; Rob Barnett, Founder/CEO, My Damn Channel; Michael Kassan, Chairman and CEO, MediaLink.
• “30 Minutes w/…”: Greg Jacobs, Head of Distribution, Red Bull Media House; David Shall, Head of Business Operations and General Counsel, Vuguru; Jordan Levin, President, Alloy Digital, and CEO, Generate; Allen DeBevoise, Chairman, Co-Founder, and CEO, Machinima; Chris Grant, CEO, Electus; Niko Chauls, Director/Original Programming, MSN; David Lang, President/North America, Mindshare Entertainment; Adam Besserman, Director/West Coast Development, Yahoo.
• “Technologies That Fuel Multiplatform Content”: Scott Rosenberg, VP/Business Development, Content, and Services, Roku; Eric Anderson, VP/Content and Product Solutions, Samsung; David Bramble, Senior Product Manager, Microsoft; Lori Schwartz, Tech Catalyst and Principal, World of Schwartz; and Steve Koenig, Director/Industry Analysis, CEA.

Cynopsis Digital (including yours truly) is headed to CES in January. Connect with me (via: [email protected]) — let me know what you’re looking forward to, where you’ll be, and what not to miss. We will be publishing a pre- and post-CES Special eReport, which will focus on all things digital video at the international trade show.

The Chernin Group has led an investment round in MiTu, a Latino-centric YouTube network. The dollar amount was not disclosed, but multiple reports indicate that it’s for around $3 million. Co-investors in the round include Machinima Chairman, Co-Founder, and CEO Allen DeBevoise and Shari Redstone’s VC firm Advancit Capital, as well as Juan Cristobal Ferrer and CODE Advisors. Per the deal, The Chernin Group will join MiTu’s Board of Directors. Headquartered in LA, MiTu partners with Latino content creators to develop English- and Spanish-language channels on YouTube, primarily focused on lifestyle content verticals such as beauty, fashion, health, food, home, and pop culture. The company also assists the content creators in growing their audience, scaling production, and connecting them with advertisers. The fresh influx of capital will be used toward expanding MiTu’s US, Mexico, and Columbia channel recruiting, partnerships, and monetization teams. MiTu launched seven months ago, right around the time of the inaugural Digital Content NewFronts. Since then, the YouTube network has topped 800 million views and 2.3 million subscribers across all of its properties.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

Nielsen is rolling out Online Brand Effect (OBE) in the UK, following the October launch of its Online Campaign Ratings (OCR) product in the region. OBE is a measurement and optimization solution that aims to help advertisers, agencies, and publishers evaluate how online ads are “resonating” with UK audiences, in real time. The solution uses classic brand life metrics — including awareness, attitude, favorability, purchase intent, and/or preference — to quantify how well the ads are resonating. Nielsen says OBE is also capable of identifying which attributes are driving performance, including creative execution, site delivery, and the impact of frequency of exposure. This, paired with Nielsen’s OCR product, should allow advertisers and publishers to measure reach and resonance in real time, and then optimize to increase campaign performance. OBE is also available in the US and Australia. In the US, Nielsen says publishers using the solution’s collaborative optimization feature in conjunction with advertisers and agencies have generated, on average, 30% higher brand lift for their sites.

Music video distributor VEVO has released its top 10 most-viewed videos of 2012. To maybe no one’s surprise, Carly Rae Jepsen’s ubiquitous first single, “Call Me Maybe,” stood at the top of the mountain with over 360 million views across VEVO platforms as of December 3, 2012. The rest of the top 10 was dominated by other major pop stars, including One Direction, Justin Bieber, LMFAO, Jennifer Lopez, and Pitbull. Which really says, it’s a younger crowd accessing VEVO content, whether it’s online, on mobile, or via the company’s syndication partners. Notably missing, the other song/music video that wouldn’t go away: “Gangnam Style” from K-pop star Psy. The music video for that song recently topped 900 million views on YouTube. A VEVO spokesperson told me Psy’s video is not included in the company’s year-end countdown because a Korean production agency first distributed it independently. It has since been made available on VEVO, but not before the video grabbed most of its online video views.

Bravo Digital is expecting a record-breaking year for video streams on BravoTV.com (it’s reporting a 10% increase in monthly video streams year-over-year), as well as for page views, unique visitors, and video streams on Bravo’s mobile website. The programmer says Bravo’s mobile website is currently on pace to reach a 78% yearly increase in video streams, 53% increase in uniques, and 53% increase in page views.

Oxygen Media reports that its mobile website generated an 111% increase in video streams, 89% increase in average monthly uniques, and 51% increase in monthly page views, compared to 2011.

Social media and web video are shaping the way traditional media outlets cover the news, according to a web influencer survey from DS Simon Productions, a full-service “PRketing” firm. Per the survey findings, 84% of traditional media website and 93% of newspaper websites use social media for story content. In fact, 89% of respondents said they use Facebook as a media resource, while 86% use Twitter and 58% use YouTube. In addition, the survey found that there has been a 33% growth in the use of video by media websites since 2009, and 80% of such websites have used video content produced externally.

Bravo has released an update to its Bravo Now companion-viewing app for iOS devices. The new version features second-screen content for every episode of Bravo TV shows. This includes video clips, photo galleries, talent and producer info, trivia and poll questions, and social elements tied to each episode of each TV show on the channel. On the social front, the app now allows users to not only check out the latest tweets, but also curate the social conversation by trending topics and people. All of the second-screen content is synchronized to each episode, which means that if a user is checking out an episode at a later date, the extra content on the app will be made available to them as they watch, in their real time. This synchronization is extended to the mobile app’s ad units, which allow sponsors to introduce a call-to-action tied to their on-air media.

Stand-up comedian (and television auteur) Louis C.K. recently sat down with Time Magazine’s James Poniewozik for an interview that covered C.K.’s writing process, his critically acclaimed series on FX, and his rise up the comedy food chain, while also delving a little bit into his personal life. Conducted at The Paley Center for Media in New York City, the interview is now available in seven parts exclusively on the Reserve Channel on YouTube. If you’re a huge fan of C.K. (like I am), then check it out. If you’re a huge fan of comedy and the process behind it, check it out. If you’re not into either of those things, you should still check it out because you need to get your act together and this is a good way to start. The Reserve Channel is one of the YouTube originals, offering a mix of original and licensed programming that seeks to “provide access to some of the most extraordinary people and places life has to offer.” By that definition, I’d argue this interview series with Louis C.K. is a great fit.

Later – Sahil
Sahil Patel, Associate Editor for Cynopsis Digital
12.14.12

Denise O’Connor: Group Publisher, Media Entertainment
Diane K Schwartz: Senior Vice President, Media Communications Group

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