Cynopsis: DIGITAL
01.03.13

Good morning. It’s Thursday, January 3, 2013, and this is your first early morning digital briefing.

There are 425 million devices connected to the web inside US households, according to a new research report from The NPD Group. And while most of these devices are computers (183.8 million connected to the web), the report says the traditional computer’s share of connected in-home devices is diminishing, fueled by the rise of connected gaming consoles (39 million), Blu-ray players (12.9 million), and TVs (16 million), as well as portable devices such as tablets (31.8 million) and smartphones (133 million). NPD says that by the end of 2013, there will be a shift toward “screen-sharing across devices.” Much like what users can do with Apple’s AirPlay, which allows them to throw content from one screen to another, this shared screen experience is converging device ecosystems and will allow for OTT content to become even more prominent on the TV, according to NPD.

WatchESPN is now available on Amazon’s Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD devices. Free to download via the Amazon Appstore, the TV Everywhere app offers access to live sports and channel programming from ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, and ESPN3, as well as ESPN Goal Line/Buzzer Beater when in season. As is the case with other WatchESPN editions as well as other TV Everywhere services, to access the content the viewer needs to first have ESPN in their TV subscription package. In conjunction with announcing the Kindle Fire app release, ESPN also revealed some end-of-the-year numbers on how WatchESPN is faring in terms of distribution and availability. The sports network says that total downloads for the WatchESPN app, which is now available in the App Store, Google Play, and the Amazon Appstore, more than doubled in 2012. It’s now available in 46 million households nationwide as six of the top 10 cable distributors also provide access to the service.

Crackle, Sony Pictures’ ad-supported video streaming service, will launch a new original series this month called Chosen. Starring and executive produced by Milo Ventimiglia (Heroes), the mystery-thriller, which follows a man who must kill another man within three days or risk being killed himself, will premiere on January 17. In other original programming news, Crackle will also air two new episodes of its music-performance series, From The Basement, which will feature sets from the Scissor Sisters and Thundercat.

That’s not all the news from Crackle. On the TV content side of its programming lineup, Crackle is making seasons four and five of Rescue Me available for streaming this month. The streaming service is in the middle of a sequential rollout of the entire show, which stars Denis Leary as a veteran fireman in post-9/11 New York. Crackle will continue to make seasons of the FX drama available through March 2013.

Acorn TV, a streaming service focusing on critically acclaimed British programming, is making Dominic Minghella’s comedy-drama Doc Martin available until January 27. Acorn’s packaged it as the Doc Martin Marathon, which features all 38 episodes of the show (series/seasons 1-5) plus two TV movies. Starring Martin Clunes, Doc Martin follows a socially maladjusted doctor servicing a small seaside village. This month Acorn TV is also streaming the US premiere of Above Suspicion, Set 2, a detective series from the creator of Prime Suspect and starring Ciaran Hinds and Kelly Reilly.

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Internet Broadcasting (IB) will continue to provide News Press & Gazette Company’s television stations (NPG) with digital publishing, content, and ad solutions. Under the terms of a renewed operating agreement between the two companies, IB will add support for two new stations under the NPG umbrella — KEYT in Santa Barbara, CA, and KMIZ in Columbia, MO.

Netflix will be introducing Facebook sharing features in 2013, according to a report last week from Talking Points Memo. This will be the result of an amendment to the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA), which takes away restrictions that have prohibited companies since 1988 from disclosing “personally identifiable information” such as video rental history. The new bill, which passed both the House and Senate shortly before the holiday break, is awaiting President Obama’s signature. The amendment will require video service companies like Netflix and Hulu to obtain consent before sharing a user’s viewing history on social networks like Facebook. It also allows consumers to withdraw consent either fully or on a “case-by-case” basis.

London-based interactive TV software provider Alticast has selected ThinkAnalytics to be its content discovery engine partner. Under the terms of the deal, Alticast will integrate ThinkAnalytics’ recommendation engine into its Windmill interactive TV software system. Alticast says the Windmill portfolio enables operators and device manufacturers to distribute content freely and securely across multiple screens. It supports HTML5 and Android, and is available for cable, satellite, DTT, IPTV, OTT, and cloud-based delivery and hybrid environments. With the ThinkAnalytics integration, Windmill users in North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia will be able to deliver personalized content search and recommendations to consumers.

A recent study from cable industry association CTAM took a look at how viewers talk about television, including what they talk about, when and with whom these conversations take place, and how this chatter influences TV engagement and tune-in behavior. Conducted by Nielsen, the study asked participants how often they talk about TV shows or TV content in a variety of different ways. 67% of total respondents answered that they “always” or “often” talk about TV shows and content with people in the same room while they are watching something on TV. 62% said the same for face-to-face conversations. These two options were way ahead of the different platforms that sort of make up the social TV ecosystem. 29% of respondents answered that they “always” or “often” talk about TV by updating or posting on Facebook; 17% do so by tweeting; 17% via social networking apps; 13% blog; 13% use check-in apps; and 12% enlist live chat on Xbox Live.Unsurprisingly, when broken down by different age groups, the 18-34 crowd proved to be more active in using social networks and services to talk about television. Among the other findings:

• 24% of respondents talk about television with friends and family, while 11% do so with the public or the web and 9% with show cast members.
• In terms of which digital platforms and/or social services are better at influencing tune-in, 46% of total respondents said they started watching a program because of chatter on Facebook. 14% said the same about Twitter. At the bottom of the list were social check-in services like Viggle (2%), Foursquare (1%), GetGlue (1%), and IntoNow (1%).
• Facebook is better with females (49% start watching a TV show due to chatter on the social network versus 43% of males), while Twitter holds more influence over males (16% versus 12% of females).

The last week of 2012 was the largest week ever for new iOS and Android device activations and app downloads, according to mobile app analytics company Flurry, which reports that over 50 million iOS and Android smartphones and tablets were activated and 1.76 billion apps downloaded during that time period. Flurry’s reports are based on the data it sees from the 260,000+ plus apps that use its mobile analytics tools. The company says its analytics service can be found in more than 25% of all iOS and Android apps downloaded on any given day. To give you an idea of how big the last week of 2012 was, Flurry says that the weekly average for iOS and Android app downloads between December 4 and 17 was 1.07 billion. What this data also indicates to Flurry is that smartphone and tablet penetration is pacing so well globally, that 1-billion-download weeks will quickly become the norm in 2013. In fact, Flurry says the industry will surpass the 2-billion-download week during Q4 2013.

Robin Keller has been named Chief Digital Officer of the DuJour Media Group, effective immediately. In her new role, she will be responsible for overseeing DuJour.com as well as the mobile platforms and marketing initiatives for all DuJour Media brands. She will report directly to Jason Binn, CEO of the company.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY OF WEB TV

Is anybody still not ready to let 2012 officially go? If so, check out the newly launched 2012 Time Machine iOS app, which curated over 1,000 videos of last year’s biggest moments to help you relive them one last time. Or maybe a million times, I don’t know how hard you’re taking the birth of a new year. The $0.99 app comes from Shout Factory, a multiplatform entertainment company, in partnership with Frederator Studios. It features music, movie, TV show, gaming, news, sports, and entertainment content, as well as a viral video section for the most-watched user-generated videos from 2012.

Let me be the latest to wish you a prosperous 2013.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

Later – Sahil
Sahil Patel, Associate Editor for Cynopsis Digital
01.03.13

Denise O’Connor: Group Publisher, Media Entertainment
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