Cynopsis: DIGITAL
12.21.12

Good morning. It’s Friday, December 21, 2012, and this is your first early morning digital briefing.

The NFL will live stream CBS’ telecast of Super Bowl XLVII, NBC’s broadcasts of the Wild Card Saturday doubleheader, and the Pro Bowl online. All four games will also be available on NFL Mobile from Verizon. The Super Bowl live-stream will be accessible on NFL.com and CBSSports.com. The Wild Card doubleheader will stream live on NFL.com and NBCSports.com. There will also be a number of additional features that online viewers will have at their fingertips, including additional camera angles, in-game highlights, and live statistics. Last year, NBC’s live stream of the Super Bowl attracted 2.1 million viewers. Super Bowl XLVII is scheduled for Sunday, February 3, live from the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans.

TV Everywhere apps from Showtime and ESPN are now available to Cablevision’s Optimum TV customers, once they’ve authenticated their subscription to either network’s channel package. With WatchESPN, viewers have access to live programming from ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, and ESPNU, as well as ESPN Goal Line and ESPN Buzzer Beater when those channels are in season. In addition, other TV Everywhere services within the ABC/Disney family — Watch Disney Channel, Watch Disney XD, and Watch Disney Junior — are “coming soon” to Optimum TV customers. As for Showtime, the
Showtime Anytime app offers access to over 600 film and TV titles, including original series such as Dexter, Homeland, Shameless, Californication, House of Lies, The Borgias, and Episodes.

Univision Communications has launched its bilingual digital video network, UVideos, on the Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD. UVideos offers access to Univision’s lineup of Hispanic programming, including thousands of hours of daytime, primetime, entertainment, sports, and news content. All content on UVideos is available in English and Spanish. The TV Everywhere service is also available online, on Xbox Live, and on iOS and Android devices.

Grammy-winning rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers are featured in two episodes of From the Basement, a musical performance web series available on Sony’s ad-supported streaming service, Crackle. Lead singer Anthony Kiedis and his bandmates perform a bunch of fan favorites, including “Police Station” and “Meet Me at the Corner”. From the Basement comes from Grammy-winning producer Nigel Godrich.

Yahoo Finance and CNBC‘s online interview series, Off the Cuff, is scheduled to feature David Karp, the Founder and CEO of Tumblr, this Friday. Per the notice, Karp will discuss his thoughts on the value of higher education as well as the person who, early in his career, he “leaned on to make the most important business phone calls on his behalf.”

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 post-CES Special eReport, which will focus on all things digital video at the international trade show.

Video ad RTB platform provider TubeMogul has raised $20 million in Series C financing, led by Northgate Capital. The new funds will be used toward new hires as well as expanding the company’s technology base in the programmatic buying of video ads worldwide. Specifically, TubeMogul says its immediate plans are to open new international offices in Europe and Asia. In addition to the company’s existing 25 open positions, it’s also planning key hires in engineering, marketing, and sales. As a result of Northgate’s investment, the firm’s Managing Director Tommy Vardell will join TubeMogul’s Board of Directors. Existing investors Trinity Ventures and Foundation Capital also participated in the Series C round, bringing TubeMogul’s total funds raised to date to $35 million.

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A new whitepaper released by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) in collaboration with Radar Research aims to establish a framework for defining digital ad engagement vernacular and metrics. The paper first outlines how the term “engagement” is used today, which can be broken down into three different definitions: Ad engagement (if the creative is compelling and whether a consumer interacted with the ad in some way); content engagement (which content “is most captivating”); and audience engagement (which viewers are paying the most attention and contributing to the conversation). The paper then identifies three categories that can serve as the new basis for defining what interactive ad engagement is: Cognitive (awareness, interest, intention); physical (user-initiated interaction); and emotional (affective). Looking to do away with the click-through as any sort of accurate barometer of measuring engagement, the IAB hopes to use the insights gathered in this paper, which includes an analysis of over 30 interviews with numerous players from all sides of the digital ad space, to establish “practical definitions” for ad engagement. The organization says it will create a new IAB Research Council working group in 2013 to do just this.

The US House of Representatives have passed H.R. 6671, a bill that makes it easier for consumers to share their video-viewing history and preferences across social networks. Per CNET, the bill is an amendment to the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA), designed to enable video service providers (like Netflix or Hulu) to facilitate sharing of the video content that users have watched or recommended. In order to obtain user consent, video services must notify them via a separate user agreement, while also providing a “clear and conspicuous” way to opt out at any time. This one-time user consent agreement is effective for 24 months, after which users would be required to opt-in again to share their viewing preferences. The bill has received the support of Netflix, which in a statement lauded its passing: “We are pleased the house has moved to modernize the VPPA, giving consumers freedom to share with friend when they want.” Now the bill awaits the approval of the Senate, which probably won’t happen until after it returns from the holidays, according to the report.

EPAM Systems has acquired Empathy Lab, a digital strategy and multichannel design firm, for an undisclosed price. Empathy Lab most recently launched the Horizon Online TV Everywhere app for Liberty Global. The firm’s other clients include AIG, Sentara Health Systems, CHUBB, NBCUniversal, TJX, DirecTV, PepBoys, Avon, and Comcast, among others.

Digital ad solutions provider YuMe, in conjunction with Frank N. Magid Associates, surveyed 1,500 US consumers ages 12 and older in November to provide an in-depth look into the growing connected TV ecosystem. Here are some of their top-line findings:

• 45% of consumers surveyed expect to purchase a new TV in the next 12 months. Of those consumers expecting to replace their TV, 8% say they are “very likely” to purchase a smart TV. With 11% of US households already owning smart TVs, this means adoption will sit around 19% of homes in 2013.
• 54% of respondents prefer free, ad-supported content across all screens.
• One-third of consumers surveyed make a smart TV purchase in order to access free, ad-supported content.
• 55% of respondents said they use two screens simultaneously at least for half or more of the time they are watching TV, with laptops being the most commonly used second screen (65% of respondents), followed by smartphones (49%) and tablets (24%).
• 62% of respondents said they were satisfied with the selection of TV shows available online; 50% said the same about TV show selections available on-demand. Over the next six months, respondents expect to watch more shows online than on-demand.
• The growth in using connected TVs to watch long-form videos has grown from 30% to 35% of consumers in the past year.

Hearst Corporation has appointed Neeraj Khemlani to the position of SVP and Chief Creative Officer. In this new role, he will work with Hearst’s creative teams, managers, and group heads to support and enable them in the creation of user experiences across all screens and printed pages. On the digital side of things, he will work closely with Phil Wiser, Hearst’s SVP and Chief Technology Officer.

PR and marketing firm RF|Binder has named Linda Perry-Lube as its new Chief Digital Officer. She will lead the agency’s Digital Strategy Group. Previously, she has worked at the American Museum of Natural History, where she was its first-ever Chief Digital Officer, as well as places like Microsoft, Ford Motor Company, and Beyond Interactive/Mediacom.

Daniel Levy has been named Senior Account Executive at ad tech provider Media6Degrees. He will manage and develop existing and new client relationships in the New York region.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM CABLEFAX

Hear ye, hear ye… Call for Entries

Get recognized for your outstanding digital and social media campaigns and initiatives.  Enter the CableFAX Best of Web Award, open to all networks, operators, industry partners. We will also salute the professionals who make these digital initiatives shine.

Find out more details and enter online at www.cableFAX.com/BOW12.

Last week the Reserve Channel provided exclusive access to an interview of comedian Louis C.K. from The Paley Center for Media in New York City. This week, YouTube channel has decided to follow it up with another big name in comedy, Ricky Gervais. Time.com Editor Josh Tyrangiel sat down with Gervais, the creator of The Office and Extras, at The Paley Center for Media in New York City to discuss his life before striking it big, working with fellow brilliant comedic mind Stephen Merchant, The Office, his directorial style, The Invention of Lying, and his stand-up career, among other topics. The Gervais interview is available as one full video as well as in seven parts broken down by topic.

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Later – Sahil
Sahil Patel, Associate Editor for Cynopsis Digital
12.21.12

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

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JOB OPENING: COPY COORD TEMP/TV ONE/NY: BA pref’d and/or 2 yrs of exp in TV Ops & Traffic. Wrk w/external agencies & traffic mgmt to secure and input commercial copy for network. B’way and Log Building experience a +. Sal $21-$23 per hour DOE. Visit www.TVONEjobs.com (1/9)

JOB OPENING: SALES COORDINATOR/TV Guide/ NY: Excel skills a +, Organized, Strong comm skills, Work w/AEs/Planners/Sales/Traffic/P&P Marketing. Weekly allocations, deal maintenance, daily comm w/agencies. [email protected] (1/9)

JOB OPENING: DIR ACCT MNGMNT/Origin Digital, an Accenture Co./NYC: As worldwide leader in enabling LIVE events on 2nd screens, we’re seeking a star to build our revenues. New media/sports/sale/ tech. background. [email protected] (1/8)

JOB OPENING: AD SLS MKTG MGR/Discovery/NY: Dvlp & execute multi-platform ad sls sponsorships; 5+ yrs ad agency, media sls/mktg, client mktg exp; prod exp preferred; http://careers.discovery.com/#6742 (1/8)

JOB OPENING: RSRCH DIR/NFL/NY: Develop & design meas svcs for NFL spons & ad partners. Identify renwls & ROI of activations. 5-10 yrs  spons rsrch exp. More info/apply: NFL – Sponsorship Research Director (1/5)

JOB OPENING: SUPVSR, TECH OPS DIGITAL AD SALES/Sony Pictures TV/NY or LA: Implement & manage tech infrastructure to support PS3, Dr. Oz & FEARnet digital business. Full job desc. & apply: www.sonypicscareers.com (1/5)
 
JOB OPENING: MGR PRICING/NY: Update/analyze models. Provide sales metric updates. Must be detailed/analytical/able to multi-task. Exp. in media req. Excel a must. Apply- [email protected] (1/5)

JOB OPENING: NETWORK INVENTORY COOR/ION/WPB: Max inventory & control oversell. Insures spots have separation & rotation. Coor placement of vignettes & billboard. Proof logs. Reqd 2 yrs in related field. EOE Apply [email protected] (1/4)

JOB OPENING: ACCT EXEC/Turner/NYC: 5+ yrs sales exp required. Support TBS, TNT. Create, present proposals to secure business. Develop & maintain client & agency relationships. Daily supervision of ASRs & Planners. Resume click here. (1/4)

JOB OPENING: WRITER/PRODUCER/CBS SPORTS NETWORK/NYC: Conceptualize, write, produce & direct on-air promo campaigns. 5-7yrsTV promoexp;sports knowledge a must. Apply: www.cbssportsnetwork.com (1/4)

JOB OPENING: ASSOC MEDI DIR/SUMMIT NJ MEDIA AGENCY: Min 5+ yrs cross platform media plan’g/buying, with exp in nat’l brdcst/cable. Seeking smart, motivated thinker. Resume/salary requirements to [email protected] (12/22)

JOB OPENING: IPTV ACCOUNT EXEC/selling AT&T Adworks/NYC: selling TV advertising-U-verse Platform. Manage ad agencies/clients-gen. mkt/adv TV inventory. BA/BS, 5+ yrs sales exp./3+ nat’l TV sales Apply: http://attlinks.com/SWjdi7 (12/22)

INTERNSHIPS – These positions are for credit only – nobody gets paid here. These ads are always posted for free, and students work for school credit only. For more information on the specs for posting an Internship ad, email Trish at [email protected].

WINTER INTERNSHIP CREDITS ONLY: GWIST (NYC) ASSIST IN PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT: at new gay YouTube premium channel. 10-15 hours per week. Must be a social media and YouTube junkie! Send resume to [email protected] (12/22)

SITUATION WANTED ADS, POSTED BY THOSE LOOKING TO BE HIRED… There is no charge for placing your Situation Wanted ad… for more information contact Trish Pihonak at [email protected].

SITUATION WANTED: CONTENT DISTRIBUTION, ACQUISITION, BUSINESS AFFAIRS ATTORNEY: Multi-platform cable, sat, mobile, Internet, IPTV experience w/ Nat Geo Ch, Weather Ch, XM Satelllite, TCI, Cablevision. Consult or FT. [email protected] (1/5)

SITUATION WANTED:  Leading Hollywood Nutrition Expert, Dietitian & Host looking for opportunities. Natural & high energy on camera, quoted in over 90 media outlets. See http://www.lisadefazio.com/ for reels! Contact [email protected] (1/5)

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