Cynopsis: DIGITAL
02.21.13

Good morning. It’s Thursday, February 21, 2013, and this is your first early morning digital briefing.

Yahoo has unveiled a major redesign to its home page, which now looks to serve up relevant, personalized content based on user preferences, what they and their friends have “liked” and shared on Facebook, and browsing history on the site. The new homepage is already live, with the personalized content showing up in a constantly updating, infinite news feed on the bottom-half of the page. The top of the home page will still offer the top news stories of the day as selected by the Yahoo editorial staff. To get access to most of the personalization features, users will need to sign into their Yahoo account as well as link it with their Facebook account.

Why this matters: It’s all about engagement through timely, relevant content. If Yahoo is successful in not only keeping users on the site longer but also attracting repeat visitors throughout the day, that’s only going to lead to a positive affect on the company’s product portfolio and ad businesses.

Fox Broadcasting has inked a multi-year programming, marketing, and distribution deal with the YouTube scripted drama channel WIGS. It builds upon News Corp.’s initial investment in WIGS, which focused on helping the channel promote and market its female-centric programming. Under the terms of this new deal, Fox and WIGS will collaborate in developing and marketing the YouTube channel in order to grow its female audience, with “an eye toward” building content for television. “Our overarching goal is to create an ecosystem where creative people and ideas can find expression independently in the online environment, but benefit from the resources that the larger platform of the network affords,” said Kevin Reilly, Chairman/Entertainment at Fox Broadcasting. “[WIGS Creators Jon Avnet and Rodrigo Garcia have] spent a year building a novel production process and a vibrant alternative pipeline, and we’re excited to help them take those tremendous stories and talent and develop them into long-term digital and on-air assets.”

YouTube has launched The Asian Pop Channel (A-Pop), offering access to live concert streams and new music videos from popular Asian pop artists, as well as a weekly Top 20 playlist. The channel is also sub-divided in three separate tabs, each focusing on a different corridor of A-Pop: K-Pop (Korea), C-Pop (China), and J-Pop (Japan). In conjunction with the channel launch, several upcoming events have already been planned, including A-Pop Star Week, which will feature a series of Google+ Hangouts with prominent A-Pop stars. A-Pop Star Week begins March 8.

Univision is rolling out a bunch of content online tied to the 25th Anniversary of the Latin music awards show, Premio Lo Nuestro, which airs tonight on Univision beginning at 8p ET/PT. Available online at premiolonuestro.com, the digital content includes:

• FanCam and Red Carpet Live Stream: The FanCam allows viewers to watch rehearsals of performances and other behind-the-scenes content leading up to the awards show. Univision will also power a live stream of both the red carpet and the backstage area before and during the telecast.
• A countdown of the top 25 moments in the awards show’s history.
• Exclusive footage of stars like Carlos Vives, Luis Fonsi, Pepe Aguilar, and Emilio Estefan.

Southwest Airlines has added movies on-demand on all of its WiFi-equipped airlines. Titles will be available to fliers for $5/movie, per device. The airline company has also upgraded its in-flight television package, now allowing fliers to access up to eight live news and sports channels as well as on-demand episodes of popular TV shows for $5/day, per device. Southwest WiFi is available for $8/day, per device. Customers don’t need to purchase WiFi in order to access the airline’s film and TV VOD offering.

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Twitter has launched the Twitter Ads API, allowing marketers to deliver and manage ad campaigns, at scale, via third-party ad management partners. Initially, the API is launching with five partners: Adobe, HootSuite, Salesforce, SHIFT, and TBG Digital. “We chose these beta partners because they offer products that address some of the most pressing needs of marketers, and we’re currently evaluating the next round of partners to join the program,” said April Underwood, Twitter’s Product Manager/Revenue, in a blog post. Underwood also said that the company plans to start certifying ad products that integrate with the Twitter Ads API (via the Twitter Certified Products Program).

DoubleVerify has received accreditation from the Media Rating Council (MRC) for its suite of ad verification and viewability products, including BrandAssure, BrandShield, AdAssure, and ViewAssure. Per the statement, the MRC accreditation “certifies that DoubleVerify’s procedures adhere to the MRC’s Minimum Standards for Ratings Research and to industry accepted guidelines for digital campaign measurement.” Why this matters: As the digital ad industry continues to push forward in creating effective measurement tools and services, the MRC serves as an independent body to ensure the validity and reliability of these services to advertisers and publishers.

Digital promotion services provider ePrize has launched a new social analytics reporting tool that aims to provide brands with deeper insights into their social followers by collecting and aggregating Facebook data. The Social Analytics tool captures social data, such as “likes,” interests, status updates, and check-ins, as well as lifestyle and demographic information, when a consumer registers for a marketing campaign via their Facebook login information. It then aggregates all of that data into detailed visual breakdowns so brands can see consumer trends, evaluate the program’s success against targeted audiences, and optimize Facebook media buys, among other things. “Facebook is the world’s most powerful and reliable CRM database,” said Matt Wise, CEO of ePrize. “With our Social Analytics offering, brands can use Facebook data to shape more relevant content, offer highly targeted promotions, and drive future decision making, such as buying more targeted and efficient Facebook media.”

Inergize Digital has renewed a multi-year deal with Intermountain West Communications (IMC) to provide the local station operator with continued access to its digital management solutions. Per the deal, four IMC-operated NBC affiliates — KSNV-TV Las Vegas, KRNV-TV Reno, KENV-TV Elko, and KPVI-TV Pocatello, Idaho — will continue to use the Inergize Web CMS and News Synergy platforms to distribute local content on-air, online, and on mobile devices. “At our station in Las Vegas, digital viewership has doubled since we started working with Inergize, and internet revenues increased 67% year-over-year,” said Lisa Howfield, VP and GM at KSNV-TV.

Netflix may not be releasing official numbers as to how House of Cards is faring, but external data continues to make it seem like the show’s been a success. Investment firm Cowen and Company recently conducted a survey of 1,229 people, of whom about 28% were Netflix subscribers and another 18% had access to a Netflix subscription. The firm found that among Netflix subscribers and those who have access to a Netflix account, 10% streamed at least one episode of House of Cards in the 12 days the show was available. What’s more, the average House of Cards viewer had watched about six episodes in that timeframe, with 19.4% responding that they had watched all 13 episodes of the first season. In terms of viewer sentiment, 36% of respondents rated the series as “exceptional”; 43% felt it was “good”; and 86% said they were less likely to cancel their subscription after watching the show. As for Netflix’s decision to make all 13 episodes available at once, 90% of respondents approved the idea.

Jun Group, the provider of an opt-in video ad platform, has named Brian Soifer as its new Regional VP/Midwest. He will be based in the company’s Chicago office. Additionally, Jun Group has also picked Justin Henry as its new Director/Sales, based in the LA office, and Justin Finnegan as Marketing Manager, based in the company’s NY headquarters.

Esquire Network has named Deena Stern as its new Head of Marketing. She will oversee marketing and strategic planning for on-air, off-air, digital, and ad sales solutions. Esquire Network is scheduled to debut on April 22, 2013.

In-cinema advertising company Screenvision has added four new executives to its ad sales and marketing teams. Katy Loria has been named SVP/National Sales; Lisa O’Keefe has been hired as Account Executive; Matt Arden has been appointed to VP, Creative Director; and Darren Finnie has joined the company as VP/Ad Sales Marketing.

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Want to know what it’ like to wear and use a Google Glass? Check out this video. Want to know how you can apply to get early access to a Google Glass? Check out this website. Though, before you get all excited, anyone who is selected to be a “Glass Explorer” will need to A) purchase the device for $1,500-plus-tax, and B) pick it up at a special “experience” in New York, San Francisco, or LA. Still, that video is tremendous.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

Later – Sahil
Sahil Patel, Associate Editor for Cynopsis Digital
02.21.13

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

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