Analysis for 'alan wolk'

The following video was recorded at VideoNuze’s Connected TV Advertising PREVIEW: 2024 virtual on February 28, 2024.

How to Make CTV Ads More Engaging
CTV gives advertisers and publishers brand new opportunities to engage viewers far beyond conventional 15 and 30-second spots. What kinds of innovations are already working in CTV interactivity and what's on the roadmap for 2024? How will new forms of viewer engagement change how CTV ads are bought and their success measured?

Tyler DeNicola - VP of Programmatic Revenue & Partnerships, A+E Networks
Jordan Greene - Chief Media Officer and Co-founder, Alpha Precision Media
Rose McGovern - Head of Programmatic and Digital Ad Sales, DIRECTV Advertising
Lance Wolder - Head of Client Strategy and Marketing, PadSquad
Alan Wolk - Co-Founder and Lead Analyst, TVREV (moderator)

This week on Inside the Stream nScreenMedia’s Colin Dixon and I welcome our friend and industry analyst Alan Wolk to discuss his new report, “FASTs are the New Cable” (complimentary download). Alan is the co-founder and lead analyst at TVREV. He is a veteran TV industry follower who coined the term FAST for free ad-supported streaming TV.

Alan explains the similarities between FASTs and cable TV networks. He views FASTs as one of two streaming business models, with the other being paid subscriptions. But both models feature on-demand and linear content. The FAST ecosystem is complex and Alan describes the three key levels and how they interrelate. He also shares a number of predictions about where FASTs are heading.

For anyone interested in better understanding FASTs and the impact they’re having, the interview and report are highly valuable.

Listen to the podcast (32 minutes, 24 seconds)

Browse all previous podcasts

Subscribe to Inside the Stream
Apple Podcasts  Google Podcasts  Spotify  Amazon Music  RSS

Last Tuesday and Wednesday, June 14th and 15th was VideoNuze’s Connected TV Advertising Summit virtual. The program featured over 35 speakers on 8 different sessions, who shared their insights about the current CTV advertising business and what’s in store for the future.

Huge thanks to our Silver Partners Beachfront, Edgecast, ExtremeReach, HUMAN, IndexExchange, Innovid, Mediaocean, Pixability, Roku, Xandr and Branding Partner Future Today.

Below are the June 14th (day 1) session videos. The June 15th ( day 2) session videos are here.

CTV Innovation – What to Watch
Innovation is everywhere in the CTV and streaming market. What are some of the critical innovations in distribution, monetization and consumption? What influence are they having?

Rose McGovern – GVP, Digital Client Success & Operations, DIRECTV Advertising
Mike Richter – VP, Global Revenue Operations, TMB (Trusted Media Brands)
Michael Tuminello – VP, Strategy, Mediaocean
David Pudjunis – VP, Strategy and Programmatic Partnerships, AMC Networks
Danielle DeLauro – EVP, VAB (moderator)
 

New Opportunities in Measurement
New ways to measure and value TV audiences are proliferating. What’s unique in measuring connected TV consumption and how is the opportunity being addressed?

Jessica Hogue – GM, Measurement and Industries, Innovid
Megan Matlock – AVP, Media Strategy, AT&T
Brian West – SVP, Data and Measurement Strategy, NBCUniversal
Nicole Whitesel – EVP, Advanced TV, Client Success, Publicis Media
Jon Watts – Managing Director, CIMM (moderator)
 

Transitioning from Linear TV to Streaming
The biggest trend in the TV industry is the shift in viewership from linear TV to streaming – and how ad budgets are following the eyeballs. Learn how this transition is unfolding and what it means for the future of TV and advertising.

Stacie Danzis – SVP, Digital Media Sales, A+E Networks
Travis Hockersmith – VP, Platform+, VIZIO
Christo Owen - SVP, Digital Platform Sales, Paramount Streaming
Marni Rommel – VP, Business Development, Beachfront Media
Alan Wolk – Co-founder and Lead Analyst, TV REV (moderator)
 

Exploring Connected TV’s Continued Growth
Over 80% of U.S. households have at least one connected TV, and many of two or more, making CTV’s massive reach hugely attractive to advertisers and publishers. Get all the details on CTV’s adoption and viewer dynamics from one of the industry’s leading researchers.

Bruce Leichtman – President, Leichtman Research Group (presenter)

Welcome to this week’s edition of Inside the Stream, the podcast where nScreenMedia’s Chief Analyst Colin Dixon and I take listeners inside the world of streaming video.

This week we’re pleased to have as our guest Alan Wolk, who is the Co-Founder and Chief Analyst at TV[R]EV and who is well-known to all of us in the industry. Alan has released a new report, “The Emerging Smart TV Ecosystem,” which is available for complimentary download and was underwritten by LG Ads, Samsung Ads and VIZIO.

In a nutshell, Alan believes smart TV makers “are having a moment.” A key part of our discussion is whether and how quickly smart TVs will supplant streaming sticks and boxes as the primary connected TV device. Alan also shares his predictions and assumptions for how quickly smart TV advertising will grow over the next several years. We also get into the crucial role of improved user interfaces, how the big 3 work with FAST services to attract and retain viewers, and where Amazon’s new Omnia smart TV fits in.

Smart TVs are helping reinvent the living room experience; hopefully our interview provides new insights for how they’re doing so and over what time period their impact will be felt.

Listen to the podcast (36 minutes, 32 seconds)
 

Browse all previous podcasts

Subscribe to Inside the Stream
Apple Podcasts  Google Podcasts  Spotify  Amazon Music  RSS

Following up yesterday’s post, today I’m pleased to share video recordings of the 7 sessions from the second afternoon of last week’s Connected TV Advertising Summit virtual. Below I have also included the session description for each, along with the speakers. (Note the CTV Ad Summit web site has been de-activated, post conference). Reminder, the first afternoon's session recordings are here.

For anyone focused on how to succeed in CTV advertising, there are lots of really valuable insights and data. For example, to get a sense of why the CTV ad opportunity will exceed $27 billion by 2025 in the U.S. alone, watch the presentation from eMarketer / Insider Intelligence’s Eric Haggstrom. To learn how buyers are thinking about CTV ads, watch the session with Amplifi/Dentsu’s Mike Law and Cara Lewis. To learn about Roku’s playbook for CTV success, watch the interview with Alison Levin.

And don’t miss the panels focused on programmatic’s role in CTV, how smart TV makers are positioning themselves for ad success, the new rules of targeting/data and the big changes coming to TV advertising.

If you attended please see my email yesterday with an attendee survey. I’m very interested in your feedback on the Summit and how to further improve it.

Watch the session videos now!

Last week’s Connected TV Advertising Summit Virtual Event featured 40 industry executives on 14 different sessions, including research presentations, interviews and panel discussions, both live and pre-recorded.

As Colin and I talked about on last Friday’s podcast, the CTV Ad Summit illuminated how widespread CTVs already are and why they’ve created such significant opportunity for advertisers and content providers as linear TV and pay-TV continue to decline.

Several speakers noted CTV is now their company’s number one strategic priority. Over time CTV will capture the best of TV advertising’s reach and impact with the best of digital advertising’s targeting and ROI. CTV is still a work in progress though and many speakers highlighted key ongoing challenges in the areas of measurement, transparency and inventory management.

Below I have included the program and all of the session videos in one playlist. The thumbnail for each session includes the title slide and list of speakers. Enjoy!

watch the session videos

Facebook is poised to dominate “social TV” according to a new report from The Diffusion Group, authored by veteran industry analyst Alan Wolk. Social TV is defined as using social media platforms to discuss, comment on, or enhance the television experience.

While Facebook’s importance grows, TDG sees Twitter’s role in social TV declining, though it is still significant today. Two main forces are at work: (1) a continued decline in live viewing, thereby making real-time platforms like Twitter less relevant and (2) a shift from fan-driven social TV activity to paid promotional placements by TV networks.

continue reading

There is no doubt the TV industry is changing dramatically, largely due to the rise of online and mobile video viewing. But is it "dying," "imploding" or being "nuked" as some recent tech media headlines assert? No, not yet anyway. As a close observer of all things video, it's just mind-boggling sometimes to see how data is conflated to support distorted conclusions. If your company's product strategy were guided by today's headlines alone, you'd be on a course to disaster.

To help set things straight, Piksel's Alan Wolk has put together a really good slide deck with data debunking 7 of the bigger myths floating around these days (1) cord-cutting is a mass movement, (2) kids ignore mainstream TV, (3) your pay-TV provider is the one forcing you to pay for 800 channels, (4) cutting the cord lets you stick it to the cable company, (5) second screen is all about social TV, (6) TV viewing has decreased and (7) in the future we'll be able to watch TV wherever, whenever and however we want.

See slide deck

Yesterday's victory by Aereo in federal appeals court is certain to have at least one consequence: it will put retransmission consent fees into the spotlight. For those unfamiliar with "retrans" as it is known, these are fees that broadcast TV networks and stations have negotiated from pay-TV operators. Much like the fees pay-TV operators pay to carry cable TV networks (e.g. MTV, USA, ESPN, etc.), retrans allows operators to carry broadcast networks.

Retrans fees are already a billion dollar plus revenue stream for broadcasters and by some estimates, could be a multiple of this in several years. Broadcasters see the payments as vital to keeping them on parity economic footing with cable networks. Conversely, operators see retrans as a broadcast subsidy, effectively inflating their already bloated programming costs. Retrans has been at the heart of most of the blackout battles between broadcasters and operators over the last several years.

continue reading

Today contributor Alan Wolk provides a hands-on review of Aereo. Alan is Global Lead Analyst at KIT digital. He frequently speaks about the television industry in general and second screen interactions in particular, both at conferences and to anyone who'll listen. Recently named as one of the "Top 20 Thinkers In Social TV and Second Screen" Alan is one of the main architects behind the award-winning KIT Social Program Guide and writes about the television industry at the Toad Stool blog. You can find him on Twitter at @awolk

If you are interested in contributing to VideoNuze, please contact me!

Aereo: The Hands-On Review
by Alan Wolk

I’ve been testing out Aereo for the past two weeks (see video below), ever since they expanded their service area to include the entire New York metropolitan area. I tested it at home where I have a blazing fast 50 Mbps FIOS connection using both their new Roku app and my iPad 3, and outside the house, where I rely on a Verizon Wireless iPhone 5 with 4G service. (Well, when 4G is available, that is.)

Interface: The interface on the iPad and iPhone are fairly similar. There aren’t that many channels:  Aereo has fleshed out the over-the-air offering with iON and a couple of foreign-language offerings, but most users are going to be looking for content from the Big 4 networks and PBS.

On the Roku app, the channels are arranged in Roku’s linear filmstrip layout, so that getting from one end to the other is quite a hassle.

continue reading

Today I'm pleased to share a contributed post from Alan Wolk. Alan is Global Lead Analyst at KIT digital. He frequently speaks about the television industry in general and second screen interactions in particular, both at conferences and to anyone who'll listen. Recently named as one of the "Top 20 Thinkers In Social TV and Second Screen" Wolk is one of the main architects behind the award-winning KIT Social Program Guide and writes about the television industry at the Toad Stool blog. You can find him on Twitter at @awolk

If you are interested in contributing to VideoNuze, please contact me!

Social Recommendations: No Surprises There
by Alan Wolk

There’s a firmly held belief in the world of social TV and social media that our social graphs-- the people we are friends with on Facebook and Twitter and other social networks-- are the best source of recommendations for anything from restaurants to movies to TV shows. (Witness this week’s Facebook Graph Search announcement.)

I’m here to suggest that may not be the case, particularly in regards to television.

Let’s take Facebook, the most personal of the social networks. While it is considered good form by many on Twitter and LinkedIin to connect with relative strangers, our Facebook friends are generally people we know in real life.

Or knew.

continue reading

Today, I'm pleased to share a guest post from Alan Wolk, Global Lead Analyst at KIT Digital. As Alan points out, the Xbox Kinect technology has helped open up a new world of possibilities for navigating video content on TVs (I was recently in KIT's offices and played with their Kinect Sky TV app, which I thought was amazing). Beyond Kinect however, further technology improvements are coming, all of which means the remote control is poised to move far beyond its humble roots. Read on to learn more.

Building the Next Remote Control: Kinect is Just the First Step

by Alan Wolk

In the pre-cable TV world, the remote control was a truly amazing device. It allowed viewers to raise and lower the volume without getting out of their chair, while jumping seamlessly between the handful of channels that were available.

The advent of cable TV made the remote a little more complicated: with 20 or 30 channels in the line-up, the remote now needed a keypad to enter the actual channel number. The more channels cable systems added, the more critical the remote became. But around the time we moved from dozens of channels to hundreds of them, it become evident that a better system was needed: scrolling through so many channels ten at a time was not particularly time efficient, especially since viewers knew the names of channels they wanted to watch, not their constantly shifting numbers.

continue reading