Cynopsis: DIGITAL
12.20.12

Good morning. It’s Thursday, December 20, 2012, and this is your first early morning digital briefing.

182 million Americans watched nearly 40 billion pieces of online video content in November 2012, according to comScore. The top five online video properties in terms of unique viewers are: Google/YouTube (153 million), NDN (55.7 million), Facebook (53.8 million), Yahoo (52.3 million), and VEVO (52 million). However, if you look at the top online video properties in terms of streams/views, the list is led by Google/YouTube (12.1 billion) and AOL (695.2 million).

On the buy-side of things, comScore reports that Americans watched 10.5 billion video ads in November 2012. The top five online video ad properties, ranked by number of ads delivered, are: BrightRoll (1.77 billion), Google (1.74 billion), Hulu (1.52 billion), Liverail (1.27 billion), and Adap.tv (1.18 billion). Video ads reached 53% of the total US population an average of 64 times during last month. Hulu delivered the highest frequency of video ads to its viewers with an average of 62 ads per viewer.

DirecTV has added over 30 TV networks from programmers like A+E Networks, Scripps Networks Interactive, Showtime, Smithsonian Channel, and Viacom Media Networks to its TV Everywhere offering. The on-demand content is available to all customers at no additional charge, as long as they authenticate their subscription online or on the DirecTV Everywhere iOS and/or Android apps. The list of newly added networks includes, but isn’t limited to: AXS TV, BET, CMT, Comedy Central, Cooking Channel, DIY Network, Food Network, HGTV, Logo, MTV, Tr3s, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, Nick Jr., Shorts HD, Spike TV, Showtime, Smithsonian Channel, Teen Nick, Travel Channel, TV Land, and VH1. DirectTV has also expanded its live in-home streaming lineup to over 60 channels by recently adding both DIY and ION to its streaming service, which can currently be accessed online or on iOS devices.

E! has launched a mobile app for its Spanish-speaking audience. The new app, E! Latino, features original series, breaking news videos, celebrity interviews, photo galleries, and other types of content, all in Spanish. Original series include Latin Bites, Zona Trendy, and VIP Caracas, as well as a daily E! Latino version of the network’s breaking news web series, E! News Now, which will also be syndicated to a number of E!’s online partners. The app will also be populated with clips from E!’s TV series like Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Married to Jonas, Chelsea Lately, and The Soup. In addition to all of the video content, the app will offer a variety of articles and features each day, including in-depth profiles of popular Hispanic personalities. E! Latino is available for iOS and Android devices in the US as well as 32 international territories across Latin America and the Caribbean. E! will also work with fellow NBCUniversal property Telemundo to distribute E! Latino content and promote the app across its digital platforms. “[The app] is an important step in our comprehensive multiplatform initiative to better serve this fast-growing, tech-savvy audience that is passionate about the world of pop culture,” said Romina Rosado, VP/Eonline. The initiative that Rosado alludes to will continue to roll out in 2013 with additional digital and on-air extensions designed to serve the Hispanic audience, which is Eonline’s fastest growing segment (up 44% year-to-date).

GorillaSpot Media is adding how-to video content from Howdini to its Cliptamatic app for iOS devices. Starting this week, users can search for and watch how-to content from Howdini’s network of experts, and then personalize and share those clips across their social networks from right within the app. Howdini’s YouTube channel has nearly 200 million views and over 110,000 subscribers. The Cliptamatic library will feature a selection from more than 600 videos, beginning with holiday-themed instructional content. Through the partnership, clips will cover a wide range of topics, including tips on baking, making cocktails, health and wellness, green living, and more. Cliptamatic will also direct users to Howdini’s website to watch the full-length version of the video. Other content verticals on Cliptamatic include short-form sports, comedy, and news videos. The app allows users to subscribe to specific content channels, which will then notify the user when new videos are available on it.

Youth lifestyle site Fanlala has unveiled a new creative studio and production facility in Santa Monica, which will focus on creating web series for the tween audience.Fanlala says several teen stars have already dropped by the new studio, including singer Keke Palmer, Bridgit Mendler (Wizards of Waverly Place), Kendall Schmidt (Big Time Rush), Lucas Cruikshank (Fred), and the cast of Lifetime’s Dance Moms, among others. Fanlala CEO Alan Anderson says the company is working with partners like YouTube, AOL On, Blinkx, and Kabillion on Demand to distribute their programming to those platforms. Some new web series currently in production include:

• The Fanlala 5ive: Weekly music countdown show; hosted by Soren Bryce Martin.
• Daphne’s Look of the Week: Weekly series that will highlight the best personal and red carpet styles worn by teen celebs; hosted by Radio Disney personality Daphne Blunt.
• The Fanlala Feed: A weekly news wrap-up covering top stories in teen entertainment; hosted by Daphne Blunt.
• Dressing Room Dish: Teen celebrities show off their dressing rooms and talk about what they do in between scenes.
• Josie and Her Celebrity Friends: Fictional comedy series about a “girl next door” and her celebrity friends.

Tubular, a cloud-based audience development platform focusing on YouTube channels and networks, has landed $2.5 million in Series A financing from FirstMark Capital, High Line Venture Partners, SVAngel, Lerer Ventures, and Bedrocket Media Ventures. This round adds to a $650,000 seed round, which the start-up says it recently collected from a number of investors in the YouTube and ad tech fields. Founded in spring 2012 by Rob Gabel and Allison Stern, Tubular operates a patent-pending Audience Development Platform, which allows YouTube content creators to measure and analyze their audience, including its demographic make-up, preferences, and viewing habits, among other things. Its dashboard allows clients to identify and reach out to influencers and “super-fans”. A solid chunk of prominent YouTube programmers — Machinima, Big Frame, DanceOn, Awesomeness TV, Cartoon Hangover, StyleHaul, Maker Studios, and Bedrocket — are already using Tubular’s private beta product. The start-up says its current plans are to remain in private beta, with a public beta targeted for spring 2013. While pricing has not been set yet, Tubular expects to follow a SaaS subscription model that’s based on audience size.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

Facebook is planning to launch a video ads product in the first half of 2013, “by April at the latest,” according to a report from AdAge. While nothing is official yet, here are some of features that might show up in Facebook’s stab at video advertising, per the report:

• Like Sponsored Stories, the video ads will appear in the online and mobile news feeds.
• Online, the video will expand out of the news feed. Facebook is currently at work to bring such an attention-grabbing capability to video ads that will show up on mobile news feeds.
• 15-second ads, instead of the standard 30-second spots.
• An “autoplay” feature, which will start the video automatically. Facebook is still considering having the audio un-muted as soon as the video ad starts (this will be a fun controversy to cover if Facebook chooses to go through with it).
• Advertisers will be able to show the same ad to a user as much as three times a day across various devices.

Online ad revenues in the US reached $9.26 billion for the third quarter of 2012, according to the latest Internet Advertising Revenue Report figures released by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Climbing 18% year-over-year ($7.8 billion in Q3 2011) and 6% quarter-over-quarter ($8.72 billion in Q2 2012), this makes Q3 2012 the biggest on record. Sponsored by the IAB, the Internet Advertising Revenue Report is independently conducted by PwC’s New Media Group, which compiles data directly from information supplied by those selling online ads.

The growing number of video consumption devices (tablets, connected TVs, gaming consoles, etc.) presents a challenge for researchers, content providers, and marketers to accurately and completely measure who and how many people are tuning in via those devices. This is not new information. But here are some highlights from a whitepaper by One Touch Intelligence (OTI) on behalf of the Council for Research Excellence(CRE) on the growing multiplicity of devices, fragmented audiences, and what’s needed to capture the Holy Grail of an effective measurement model for digital video consumption:

• The average national penetration of “emerging media devices” is led by gaming consoles at 56%, followed by DVRs (44%), smart TVs and Blu-ray layers (combined 22%), tablets (14%), and over-the-top SBs (11%).
• OTT STBs show the least promise of growth and may even “be rendered largely obsolete” as consumers opt for connected gaming consoles and smart TVs.
• Less than half of all smart TVs and Blu-ray players in the market are currently connected to the internet.
• OTI says smart TV popularity may grow if broadband penetration increases substantially, MVPDs make their full channel lineups available on such devices, and/or if content storage moves to the cloud. The last thing may also boost DVR penetration.
• Despite the broad array of connected devices, there are two primary methods of transporting video signals to the end user: Via the STBs of MVPDs, or via IP from servers to users’ devices.
• According to the report, the industry needs to first understand how the delivery mechanisms operate, including the video transport methods, in order to determine where along the transmission path measurement can occur.
• It’s also important to understand the increasing and/or shifting use of these different types of devices. For example, for smart TVs, the report says the “key stats to follow include the number that are actually hooked up to the internet” as well as “any survey data from those connected TVs of how much viewers are watching, and what content they are watching”.

A new ad effectiveness study conducted by Nielsen’s Vizu on behalf of GumGum finds that GumGum’s in-image ads “significantly raised awareness of a new comedy series for a major broadcast television network client.” Per the findings, GumGum’s interactive in-image ads generated an overall brand lift of 5.3% across all creative formats, with its custom rich media unit driving an even higher lift at 8.8%. “No matter the medium, brand marketers are looking for proof that their strategies are driving the desired result of brand lift,” said Dan Beltramo, EVP/Product Leadership at Nielsen. “We’re pleased to provide that proof for GumGum, and help validate the effectiveness of the in-image advertising format.” GumGum’s in-image ads are contextually targeted rich media units, which are sized to fit across the bottom of images within the company’s network of premium publishers. When clicked on, an advertiser can deliver different types of content to the consumer, including video.

AMC Networks has named Kari-Michele Hauge as its new VP/Digital Sales and Marketing. She will be responsible for day-to-day management of electronic sell-through and subscription video-on-demand partnerships across the company and its divisions, which include AMC, IFC, Sundance Channel, and WE tv. Based in NY, Hauge will report to Paul Rehrig, SVP/Business Development at AMC Networks.

24/7 Media has promoted Michelle Smith to Senior Director/Product Management. In addition, the company has hired Sonjoy Ganguly to be another Senior Director/Product Management. Both will be based in NY.

Integrated marketing and technology firm Trailer Park/goodness Mfg. has appointed D’nae Kingsley-Cronan as its new VP/Integrated Planning. She will oversee brand and entertainment strategy across the agency, thus centralizing brand planning, consumer research, and holistic digital, social, and mobile strategy. Hers was not the only exec move at Trailer Park/goodness Mfg. The company has also promoted Steve Boelhouwer to Head of Technology. He will oversee all technical development initiatives throughout the agency. Brad Burris has also received a promotion; his is to Creative Director/Digital and Social. He will concept, develop, and lead creative visual communications strategy for the agency’s entertainment and brand clients.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

We’re less than two weeks away from 2013. Since this is the next-to-last time you’ll hear from me before Cynopsis’ annual holiday shutdown slash celebration slash I-need-to-get-out-of-here-and-go-hibernate-for-a-week, I should push these links out before I forget:

The Times Square Alliance and Countdown Entertainment are once again offering free HD satellite feeds of the New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square, New York. The uninterrupted feeds are available free of charge to domestic and international television outlets. Satellite coordinate/feed information can be accessed here.

But for you, dear end-user, the organizers have also partnered with Livestream to produce an international 6.5-hour webcast, live from Times Square on December 31. The stream will be hosted by Ms. Allison Hagendor, who recently wrapped hosting the first season of The CW’s music competition series The Next: Fame Is at Your Doorstep. She and a crew of street correspondents (to be announced) will cover the action from Times Square, which will include hourly countdowns, stage performances, and special guests.

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.

Later – Sahil
Sahil Patel, Associate Editor for Cynopsis Digital
12.20.12

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