Cynopsis: DIGITAL

10/14/09

Good morning, it’s Wednesday, October 14, 2009, and this is your first early morning digital briefing.

Video on demand has always held tremendous advertising potential, but for some reason it has yet to make the real to-do list for most cable operators. Comcast tapped ad insertion specialist BlackArrow to add the ability to dynamically insert ads into VOD programming in its Jacksonville, FL system. Comcast is inserting standard 15- and 30-second spots as well as newly introduced 20-second spots to drive tune-in for upcoming shows and specials on PBS KIDS Sprout and FEARnet. BlackArrow’s system can be used to target and swap out spots on the fly – perfect for movie studios that need to make a last-minute push before they’re Friday openings.
 

 
EPIX, the HD movie channel, accompanying VOD and 720p online streaming service from Lionsgate, Paramount and MGM, announced it will launch as a linear cable channel this weekend. Kicking off things will be an exclusive Madonna concert, a screening of Iron Man and an Eddie “The Riches” Izzard comedy special. So far Verizon FiOS, which has about 2.5 million subscribers, is the only provider to sign a carriage deal with the service.
 
Horse Racing channel HRTV, currently in about 18 million homes, launched a new IPTV-based subscription broadband service, powered by NeuLion. The newly revamped hrtv.com will offer 24-hour live and on demand access to events at many leading tracks with subscriptions starting at $10/month. (Sign up prior to the end of the year and get 12 months for the special rate of $50).
 
And now for something completely different. IFC.com has announced it will stream Thursday’s invitation-only 40th Anniversary Reunion show of the Monty Python comedy troupe. It’s the first time the group, minus the late Graham Chapman, has performed together as Pythons in more than a decade. Go to IFC.com or PythOnline.com on Oct. 15 at 9 pm ET to view the live streaming event, powered by Ustream. IFC will also air a new six-hour documentary, “Monty Python: Almost The Truth (The Lawyer’s Cut)” in one hour segments during the network’s six day “Python-a-thon” Oct. 18-23, each night at 9 pm ET.
 

 
Broadband video solutions provider Ooyala has raised more moolah – an additional $10 million in series C financing to be exact, led by new investor, Rembrandt Venture Partners with participation from existing investors including Sierra Ventures. As part of the investment, In Sik Rhee, General Partner at Rembrandt, will join the Ooyala Board of Directors. Ooyala, which has raised $20 million to date, plans to use the money to expand into new markets and platforms.
 
Online music licensing start-up Sir Groovy officially launched this week with a new proprietary search functionality allowing film and TV studios to locate and license appropriate tracks more quickly. The system automatically cross references complicated rights issues to cut down on red tape that can hold up productions for months, according to Sir Groovy Chief Counsel Lee Rudnicki.
 
Lionsgate is hoping to drum up buzz for Precious, the upcoming feature produced by Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry based on the novel Push by Sapphire, with an inventive Twitter widget. Click on the link to temporarily change your Twitter icon to a photo of the film’s subject: Claireece “Precious” Jones (Gabourey Sidibe) – an abused high school girl who triumphs over terrific adversity.
 

 
Search and discovery specialist Asterpix announced the formal launch of its SearchLight publisher offering, designed to help users discover relevant content and drive additional revenue for publishers. For each SearchLight display conducted, salient phrases are extracted from all related pages on the site to dynamically suggest the most relevant search phrases to the user.  Search phrases are then linked to publisher-branded search pages hosted by Asterpix, with search results restricted to publisher content.
 
Note from Cyn:  We’ve been hearing the buzz for years on Advanced Advertising & iTV, and we’re wondering if it’s really beginning to happen, and where that will take us in the future.  We’re trying to get to the center of the conversation and hear all sides, and would like your help to do that.  It doesn’t matter if you’re a brand, an agency, television distributor or programmer – if you have a free moment, or need a distraction, we would appreciate your thoughts on this newest ad trend, by going here and anonymously answering the questions on a short survey on the topic.  We’ll share the info with you at our CTAM Luncheon in Denver later on this month.  Thanks for your participation!

 
Multiplatform video solutions provider Digitalsmiths introduced a new product at last night’s VideoSchmooze event contoured to cable’s TV Everywhere launch. “VideoSense for TV Everywhere” is designed to be an all-in-one platform solution for cable operators who want to make sure they can manage rights and clearances across multiple platforms, providing features such as entitlement rights management, enhanced time-based metadata management, dynamic clip creation and distribution, advanced ad cue management, multi-language support. The company also unveiled a new Digitalsmiths Labs division, which is tackling such technologies as facial recognition and scene classification to improve metadata tagging.
 
The Recording Academy, the group responsible for handing out the Grammy’s every year, reached an agreement with digital media company Yangaroo to finally distribute competing tracks and albums to academy members digitally. Submitted music will be digitally ingested into Yangaroo’s cloud-based distribution system, then distributed to academy members via secure streaming technology.
 
Digital video archive software provider XenData reached a deal with data storage specialist Qualstar Corp. to offer media and entertainment clients a turnkey data storage solution. The system integrator purchases the storage system directly from Qualstar and the XenData software license from XenData. The companies say that broadcasters, post-production houses and other media groups will be able to set up a digital archive solution remotely in a matter of hours.
 
Paris-based, business-themed social network Viadeo acquired UNYK, a digital address book provider that allows professionals to update their contact lists dynamically. UNKY’s 16 million users will be added to Viadeo, increasing the network’s user base to over 25 million.
 
The Hollywood Radio & Television Society is partnering with digital solutions company Digital Rapids and CDN Limelight Networks to stream the Newsmaker Luncheon series live on HRTS.org.
 

 
Time spent viewing online video rose by 25% year-over-year in Sept., although the metric dropped nearly 5% from its peak in August, according to Nielsen. (Total streams were up 41% y/y in August.) Unique monthly viewers also climbed y/y – up 12.3% to 139.3 million. The number of streams per viewer also was up 11% to 79.1 average streams per month. YouTube was still responsible for over 50% of all U.S. streams (6.7 billion) with Hulu a distinct second at 437.4 million. Facebook, which ranked #3 in unique viewers, cracked the top 10 delivering 110.4 million streams.
 
Top Online Brands ranked by Video Streams for September 2009 (U.S.)
Video Brand                Total Streams (000)     Unique Viewers (000)
YouTube                          6,688,367                    106,180
Hulu                                  437,407                      13,519
Yahoo!                              228,494                      30,084
MSN/WindowsLive/Bing       180,104                     18,109
Fox Interactive Media          139,634                     14,342
Nickelodeon Kids and Family 127,654                      5,303
Turner Sports and Entert.     123,665                      6,062
MTV Networks Music            116,839                       9,647
ESPN Digital Network           114,652                       9,299
Facebook                            110,418                      23,161
Source: The Nielsen Company
 
ID, The Investigation Discovery Channel, ranked as the basic digital network that satisfied subscribers the most in the most recent Beta Research Digital Cable poll with 65% of viewers expressing satisfaction. PBS Kids Sprout ranked second with a 63% score. Gospel Music Channel and NFL Network tied in terms of Ave. Perceived Value, pegged at $2.06. Nat Geo Channel was the favorite among Men 18+ and Hispanics; NickToons TV was tops among teens and TV One and Nat Geo Channel tied for tops among African Americans.
 
Top Basic Digital Cable Networks in terms of Viewer Satisfaction
Top-Ranked Digital Basic Networks     Viewers of Network Very Satisfied
ID, Investigation Discovery                                     65%
PBS Kids Sprout                                                     63%
Gospel Music Channel                                             62%
Discovery Health Channel                                        62%
History International                                               59%
National Geographic Channel                                    59%
Source: Beta Research Corp.
 

 
Blockbuster OnDemand, the company’s answer to the Netflix Watch Instantly streaming service, signed a deal with Tivo, providing access to $2.99 and $3.99 a la carte releases directly  from Series2 and Series3 Tivos.
 
Monsoon Multimedia‘s time and place shifting service HAVA unveiled a new mobile player app for the iPhone, enabling Hava users to control their cable, satellite or Tivo service remotely directly from their phone.
 

 
Former Yahoo sales veteran Dave Dickman has joined Warner Bros. Entertainment (WBE) as SVP/Digital Media Sales at the Warner Bros. Television Group. He reports to Brett Bouttier, SVP/Digital, WBTVG, in Burbank. Meanwhile Shannon Pruitt was named VP/Sales Development of the Digital Media Sales team, working closely with Mr. Dickman.
 
Fred McIntyre was named VP/Product of the newly formed CBS Interactive Music group. Fred will identify new customer segments, market opportunities and product extensions for CBS Interactive Music properties such as CBS Radio and Last.fm. He report to David Goodman, President, CBS Interactive Music Group and will be based in San Francisco.
 
Media sales veteran Evan Goldfarb joined Merkle’s New York-based LogicLab as VP/Media Sales.
 

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM CYNOPSIS MEDIA EVENTS

 
Set Jam is another online content aggregator/recommendation engine positioning itself to be a destination that TV and movie fans can go to search for and link to content from multiple providers. The interface couldn’t be simpler; type in the name of a show or film and every episode comes up, integrating with the Amazon storefront for purchase or with supported sites that have it for free. (iTunes does not seem to be supported.) Start watching a show and a Facebook box pops up, allowing you to tell the world what you’re watching. The system will also link to Netflix if the title is available to Watch Instantly; if not, you can add it directly to your queue. (Authentication required.) The interface will keep your favorites so that when you return, it’s easy to catch up with new episodes as they become available. Most online video portals and storefronts are on the same page in terms of building recommendation engines (if you liked that then why not try this,) tracking previous purchases and adding social functionality. The problem is that no one outlet has everything. There will always be a need to check multiple sites and Set Jam figures it can save you the hassle.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM IAB

IAB Professional Development – Fall Classes Open

Leveraging the expertise of our members, the IAB delivers cutting-edge training on the latest tools, techniques and best practices in interactive advertising. Each low-cost, high-output module gives marketers, agencies and publishers the skills they need to succeed in the rapidly changing digital landscape.

Classes are led by industry leaders such as Microsoft, AOL, Yahoo!, Nielsen, comScore, Q Interactive, Audience Science and more. For more info:  www.iab.net/professional_development .

Later — Wayne
 Wayne Karrfalt for Cynopsis: Digital
10.14.09

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