Cynopsis: DIGITAL
05.10.13

Good morning. It’s Friday, May 10, 2013, and this is your first early morning digital briefing.

Telemundo has unveiled Fluency, a new LA-based multiplatform production studio tasked with developing and producing bilingual original content for US Hispanics. Fluency’s development slate will include English and Spanish-language programming across a range of genres, from science fiction to romantic comedy. Series currently in development include La Buena Mala (The Good Bad One), a romantic comedy, and ISA, a sci-fi coming-of-age story. NBCUniversal will oversee distribution of Fluency programming across platforms, including television, subscription VOD, mobile, and electronic sell-through. Jose Marquez, Telemundo’s VP/Digital Video Production & Development, will be in charge of the studio, which will be overseen by Peter Blacker, EVP/Digital & Emerging Business at Telemundo. Fluency will offer an array of sponsorship opportunities for advertisers, including the creation of exclusive content, branded integrations, and interactive campaigns.

Peter Blacker tells me that all narrative projects developed by Fluency will be 90 minutes long, which will allow the studio to “cut up” the story differently, depending on the distribution platform. “If someone wants to run it on a tablet, we can separate the story into nine, 10-minute segments. If someone wants to air it on TV, we can package it as a made-for-TV movie,” says Blacker. Although this content/distribution strategy is employed by studios like Vuguru, Blacker says this will be the first time a media company does it for the multicultural market.
— In other words: Telemundo is trying to tap into the power of social media/YouTube stars in driving viewership and engagement online. This is an audience that’s already digitally savvy (per Nielsen data: US Hispanics spend 11% more time watching mobile video than the general population). “The success of Fluency depends heavily on bringing in viewership from both TV fanbases and digital fanbases,” says Blacker. “One of our upcoming productions will feature Eric Ochoa, whose SupereeeGO YouTube channel has close to 1 million subscribers. If we combine someone with that kind of digital power with some major, primetime TV talent, we believe there’s a real knockout potential.”

NowThis News, a producer of online news videos, has raised $4.8 million in new financing, according to SEC documents. The funding comes from existing investors Bedrocket, Lerer Ventures, and Oak Investment, as well as new investor SoftBank Capital.

Netflix has struck a new multiyear licensing deal with Disney/ABC Television Group to bring Disney Junior’s Jake and the Never Land Pirates and Disney XD’s Tron: Uprising exclusively to its streaming service in the US. Both shows are immediately available on Netflix’s kids section, which organizes shows and movies by kid-friendly genre names like superheroes, princesses, dinosaurs, and girl power. The deal also covers licensing for three other Disney kids shows, Handy Manny, Special Agent Oso, and JoJo’s Circus, all of which will be available to Netflix members in the US later this month.

Time Warner Cable plans to roll out an update to its TWC TV app for Android as early as next Tuesday. The update will add in-home access to more than 4,000 on-demand shows and movies. It will also include support for out-of-home access to select live-TV streaming and on-demand content for older Android devices. Other updates include improvements to the live-TV mini guide, which will now allow users to filter programming by genre or recently watched channels, as well as sort by network or show title.

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The IAB says AOL is the first “large-scale” digital media company to require its entire sales team to take (and pass) the IAB Digital Media Sales Certification exam. Created a about a year ago, the exam measures a salesperson’s knowledge of the digital ad ecosystem, selling digital media, managing campaigns, and analyzing campaign performance. The goal here is to provide assurances to advertisers that the salesperson they’re working with actually knows what they’re talking about. “By certifying all our sales employees and ensuring that they have a deep understanding of the interactive advertising platforms, technologies, and capabilities that impact the industry, we are demonstrating our dedication to our clients and staying ahead of the curve,” said Marta Martinez, Head of Sales Strategy and Operations at AOL.

Huawei’s first Windows Phone 8 smartphone, the Huawei W1, will be available later this month at select Walmart stores in the US as well as online at Walmart.com. Here are some quick specs: 1.2GHz dual-core processor; 4″ IPS LCD touch screen; and a 5 mega-pixel auto-focus camera with 4x digital zoom as well as a 0.3 mega-pixel front-facing camera.

BI Intelligence, a subscription research service from Business Insider, recently conducted a study to assess the growth of the mobile video ecosystem.Here are some topline findings:

• 41% of US smartphone owners are now watching video on their device at least once a month. A year ago, that number was 20%.
• Tablets are responsible for 3.7% of all time-spent watching online videos worldwide; smartphones account for 4.5%.
• Mobile video will bring in 520% in ad spending in the US this year, which would equal 13% of the entire digital video ad market.

Join me for Cynopsis Digital’s next informative webinar on online video measurement. We have a dazzling lineup of speakers ready to provide you with the latest data and insights on exactly how people are measuring digital video, and what’s in store for the future as the industry continues to evolve.

Troy Young is the new President of Hearst Magazines Digital Media. He will oversee the digital content, technology, operations, revenue, product, and business development strategies for the magazine division’s 26 online brands. Reporting to Hearst Magazines President David Carey, Young will begin his role on Monday, May 13.

In-cinema advertising company Screenvision has added Dwight Fairback to its national ad sales division in the role of SVP/New Business. Most recently, Fairback spent seven of the last nine years as a Senior Account Executive on Nickelodeon’s Kids & Family national sales team. Screenvision also announced the appointments of Kimberly Nokes and James Fusco as Account Executives/National Sales.

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YouTube‘s rumored subscription-plan offering is now a reality. The video site is rolling out a pilot program that will allow “a small group of partners” to offer paid channels on YouTube, with subscription fees starting at $0.99 per month. Every channel has a 14-day free trial period, with many also offering discounted yearly rates, says YouTube in a blog post about the new offering. In addition, more paid channels will appear in the coming weeks as a self-service feature for qualifying partners. Here’s a full list of partners, which include:

The Jim Henson Company is launching an ad-free channel with full episodes of Henson’s kids and preschool titles like Sid the Science Kid and Fraggle Rock. The Jim Henson Family TV channel will be available for $2.99/month or $24.99/year. The company is also launching a Spanish-language channel, which will be available for $1.99/month or $17.99/year.

Sesame Street will also offer full episodes on its paid channel when it launches.

National Geographic Kids’ paid channel will be available for $3.99/month or $29.99/year, offering long and short-form videos aimed at kids ages 6-12. It will include a mix of library and original content.

Acorn TV, a streaming service focusing on British classic TV programming, is also joining the party with a paid channel that’s available for $4.99/month.

Beloved B-movie film director Roger Corman will launch a paid channel this summer called Corman Drive-In. It will offer more than 400 feature films that have been produced or directed by Corman. These include Grand Theft Auto (Ron Howard’s directorial debut), The Cry Baby Killer (Jack Nicholson’s first film), and Fire on the Amazon (Sandra Bullock’s first film). The channel will also serve as a potential distribution outlet for new films in production.

UFC’s paid channel will feature classic fights and full versions of older UFC pay-per-view events. It’s available for $5.99/month.

Then there’s Entertainment Studios, which has launched eight (EIGHT) paid channels on YouTube, spanning a bunch of different verticals, from cars to comedy, pets, recipes, and entertainment news/pop culture. One of the eight channels, which is titled SmartTV, offers “best of” programming from the other seven networks for $9.99/month.

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Later – Sahil
Sahil Patel, Editor for Cynopsis Digital
05.10.13

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