The digital content NewFronts are on the horizon, and this year, 22 publishers including founding DCNF partners Hulu, Yahoo, YouTube/Google, AOL, DigitasLBI and Microsoft will present their digital slates in hopes of reeling in advertisers. One of the newcomers, Scripps Networks, launched a new digital video strategy with lifestyle network ulive (ulive.com) this year. Senior Vice President of Digital Ad Sales for Scripps properties HGTV and DIY Aaron Gallagher told Cynopsis what’s in store for the April 30 event.
Why was it important that Scripps get on the NewFronts roster?
We have a plethora of new and high-quality lifestyle video content from our TV brands and through ulive, we have a megaphone that allows us to deliver this content at scale. I think that makes us pretty unique.
Marketers are expected to spend $5.7 billion on digital video advertising this year and to push that figure to $9.2 billion by 2017, according to eMarketer. What do you think this means for digital video as a platform and as a monetized medium in general?
I think it’s a clear indicator that digital video as a medium has established itself and publishers realize that there’s real revenue opportunity in the space. We’ve seen that marketers are willing to pay a premium to reach viewers across various platforms and devices through digital video content, if they know they’re reaching an engaged, younger audience.
78 percent of buy-side attendees said they picked up at least one new opportunity for clients (according to IAB) at last year’s events. How is Scripps looking to capture clients?
Our presentation will not only highlight the content we’re creating but also the original video content and branded entertainment we’ve developed in partnership with our advertisers in the home, food and travel categories. We’ll also highlight the great work we’ve been producing through ulive in new categories like parenting, wellness, and beauty. In the home category, we’re creating entertaining digital video extensions for our most popular shows like Brother vs. Brother and House Hunters, as well as digital originals like our Weekday Crafternoon series on HGTV.com with Marianne Canada.
