Cynopsis: DIGITAL
10/12/12

Good morning. It’s Friday, October 12, 2012, and this is your first early morning digital briefing.

Internet ad revenues rose to $17 billion in the first half of 2012, a new record and a 14% increase over the first half of 2011, according to a reportfrom the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), conducted by the New Media Group of PwC US. Second quarter internet ad revenues also saw a 14% year-over-year increase, jumping from $7.7 billion to $8.7 billion. Other findings from the report include:

• Digital video saw an increase of 18% year-over-year, generating a little over $1 billion in revenue during the first half of 2012.
• Mobile ad revenues almost doubled from $636 million in the first half of 2011 to $1.2 billion during the same time period this year.
• “Display-related ad revenues” in the first half of 2012 reached $5.6 billion.

The IAB and PwC say the data in this report is compiled from the information supplied to PwC by those that actually sell ads on the web.

Golf Channel is launching a new online reality competition show tied to its Big Break Greenbrier TV series. Titled Last Break, the online show will let contestants who were eliminated from the TV series come back to compete head-to-head in Big Break-style golf skills challenges, with the winner each week advancing to the following week’s episode. The winner of the eight and final challenge will be crowned champion and receive $5,000. He will also return to the 10th episode of this season’s Big Break Greenbrier, on which he will face off against the TV series’ three remaining competitors for a chance to win another $5,000. Each episode of Last Break will air on Golf Channel’s website every Tuesday at 10pm ET, following the conclusion of Big Break Greenbrier on Golf Channel (the latest episodes of the TV series are available on the site as well). Big Break Greenbrier is a TV reality series that features a cast of 12 pro golfers vying for an invitation to the next Greenbrier Classic on the PGA Tour, and a $50,000 cash prize.

WIGS, the women-centric YouTube original drama channel started by Rodrigo Garcia (In Treatment) and Jon Avnet (Black Swan), has announced a new short film starring Allison Janney (West Wing) and Dakota Fanning (The Twilight Saga), and written and directed by Garcia himself. Focusing on an issue that has taken center-stage multiple times during the present election cycle, the film will “explore the complications often inherent in women’s personal choices, specifically as it relates to young people’s sex lives.” Titled Celia, as is the custom with WIGS to name every program after its main character, the film will premiere on the channel on Friday, October 26.

Timed to National Coming Out Day, TakePart TV premiered syndicated columnist Dan Savage’s series American Savage yesterday. Founded by Participant Media, TakePart TV is a YouTube original channel that programs its content around big social issues. The series will follow Savage as he goes around the country to explore the issue of American sexuality through (sometimes spontaneous) conversations and interactions. Similar to his podcast, Savage will also dispense advice and riff on topics related to American culture and sexuality. Each episode will be three-to-five minutes long, produced by Hypomania Content and Snackaholic.

MTV is expanding MTV Jams to serve as an umbrella brand for all of its hip-hop properties that exist across all channels and screens. Starting on Tuesday, October 23, the network will launch a new digital hub (at: jams.mtv.com) for all of its hip-hop content, including content from MTV News, its weekly hip-hop live stream Rapfix Live, the RapFix blog, and digital music video premieres and playlists. The new hub will also feature commentary and packages from the cast of This Week in Jams, a new hip-hop lifestyle show that rebrands and replaces MTV2’s Sucker Free Countdown. It will premiere on MTV2 on Sunday, October 28, at 11am ET/PT, followed by additional airings on the MTV Jams channel.

Sharethrough — the startup behind a Promoted Tweets-like “native video” platform that lets publishers place brand video ads alongside editorial content — has raised $5 million in Series B financing from existing investors North Bridge Venture Partners and Floodgate. The funding will be directed toward expanding the adoption of that Sponsored Video platform among premium publisher sites. When Sharethrough released Sponsored Video last month, it had already struck deals with publishers like Forbes, The Awl, and Thought Catalog, as well as millions of sites on the WordPress platform. The start-up is reporting 87% revenue growth over the past year.

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comScore has launched Digital Analytix Monetization, a new module in the company’s Digital Analytix platform, that offers publishers viewability and duration data for ads placed on their sites so they can create more effective viewability-based page layouts and ad packages. “These insights are proving critical in retaining and growing revenue in an increasingly competitive, analytics-driven environment, which is helping to drive strong early product adoption for this product around the globe,” said Elise Neel, SVP at comScore. The company disclosed that current publisher clients of its Digital Analytix big data platform include Associated Press, Activision, Bloomberg, Microsoft, USA Today, and VEVO.

Mobile video views have “increased from 6% to 25%” of all video views on YouTube “in the last 18 months,” according to what Robert Kyncl, Google/YouTube’s Head of Content Partnerships, said at the Abu Dhabi Media Summit, per Business Insider. It’s a sharp increase for the top-ranked video site, which recently came out with a new self-produced iOS app that enabled, among other things, YouTube to deliver ads to mobile users.

Register for our Digital Video Measurement Summit in NY on November 14: Executives from agencies and companies across the digital landscape — Adap.tv, comScore, ESPN, IAB, NBCUniversal, Nielsen, Starcom MediaVest, Videology, VideoHub, Yahoo, and YouTube, just to name a few — will share key perspectives on establishing clear measurement standards for digital video and effective practices in reaching audiences online and on multiple platforms. Also, I will be there.

In other news from Sharethrough, the company has named Mike Gaffney its new Chief Revenue Officer and has also brought in James Navin to be its new VP/Strategic Operations. Both executives will contribute to the expansion of Sharethrough’s publisher partner network, native video ad product development, and operations strategy. Gaffney comes from Auditude, the video ad platform acquired by Adobe in 2011, at which he was also CRO. Navin most recently served as SVP/Operations at Federated Media.

Media Innovation Group, the strategy and consultancy arm of 24/7 Media, a WPP company, has appointed Melody Bobo as its new Head of Account Management in the UK. She will lead the Group’s team of UK-based account managers who work with clients across the UK and Europe to develop and implement digital marketing and advertising solutions. Bobo will also work with the Group’s senior management team to develop long-term relationships with advertisers and agencies.

Meredith Xcelerated Marketing (MXM) has tabbed Kristi D. VandenBosch as its new SVP/Chief Digital Officer, a new position at the Meredith-owned global customer engagement agency. VandenBosch will oversee all aspects of MXM’s digital practice, with an emphasis on expanding its client base. She will be based in MXM’s LA office and will report directly to Briggs Ferguson, COO.

NBCUniversal’s iVillage property has named Jonathan Hills VP/Brand Experience, Product Development, and Operations, a newly created position for the site. He will be responsible for building new ways to deliver content and service across all platforms to iVillage’s female audience. This includes the development of new interactive tools, content features, and social experiences for consumers and advertisers. Effective as of October 29, Hills will report to Jodi Kahn, President of iVillage.

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Don’t Forget to Nominate by November 1:
Cynopsis’ Most Intriguing People Awards

The Awards will shine a spotlight on the industry’s most fascinating individuals in the media industry, including TV networks, studios, stations, MSO’s, digital media companies, ad agencies, brand partners and any organization that is involved with TV and online video entertainment. (Submit Online Now)

AWARDS GALA: Spring 2013

Nomination Questions: Jenn Sredzinski | Ad/Sponsorship Info: Mike Farina.

BuddyTV, a personalized video listings and discovery service, has added access to Hulu Plus. This means users who also have a Hulu Plus account can find TV and movie selections within the BuddyTV Guide app. Once they’ve selected a particular piece of content, they also have the option to watch it immediately through Hulu Plus, which is linked from the app. The company says that with the addition of Hulu Plus, its app now indexes over 1.2 million films and TV shows from an array of content providers, including all major cable and pay-TV providers’ schedules and digital video providers like Netflix, Amazon, and iTunes. Other features on the app include a watchlist, TV grids, search, and editorially curated guides.

Later – Sahil
Sahil Patel, Associate Editor for Cynopsis Digital
10.12.12

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

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