VideoNuze Posts

More data today showing the ascendance of Netflix into Americans’ lives. Leichtman Research Group’s 15th annual On-Demand TV survey found that 23% of U.S. adults now stream Netflix on a daily basis, nearly quadruple the 6% who did back in 2011. 81% of Netflix users say they watch Netflix on a TV set. And 54% of adults said they have Netflix, vs. 53% having a DVR, the first time the penetration lines have crossed (in 2011, 44% had a DVR and 28% had Netflix).

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Video ad tech provider Eyeview is ramping up its emphasis on addressable TV, hiring former TiVo SVP Brian Katz as its new VP, Advanced TV Insights & Strategy. Katz is charged with helping retail, CPG, auto and travel clients understand how to leverage addressable TV in conjunction with their digital campaigns. Eyeview focuses on outcome-based video marketing, with highly personalized video ads driving purchase conversion.

In an interview, Katz told me that a key part of his role will be removing the complexity of addressable TV advertising for clients and helping to educate them, in order to accelerate spending. Addressable TV has been complicated by fragmentation in the pay-TV space, where addressable set-top boxes have been rolled out at different paces by operators, making it difficult to execute and measure campaigns at scale.

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I’m pleased to present the 360th edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.

Earlier this week, YouTube took the wraps off its skinny bundle, YouTube TV. In today’s podcast, Colin and I explore the pros and cons of YouTube TV and also revisit our debate over skinny bundles’ value proposition. We’re both somewhat skeptical about YouTube TV, given the sheer number of popular cable TV networks missing from its lineup. But with YouTube’s massive user base and promotional opportunity, we both believe YouTube TV will attract an audience.

Listen in to learn more!
 
Click here to listen to the podcast (23 minutes, 51 seconds)

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Showing growing confidence in its ability to deliver more precise ads for clients, NBCUniversal announced this morning that it is committing $1 billion of ad inventory in advance of the upfronts for clients who want to buy targeted ads across NBCUniversal’s portfolio. The move is the latest by TV networks to enable data-driven ad buying in order to better compete with digital behemoths like Google and Facebook which are increasingly pursuing traditional TV ad dollars.

With the move, NBCUniversal is guaranteeing that data-driven campaigns will deliver “precisely defined customers” on its platforms, part of its “Symphony” strategy of tapping into all of its broadcast and cable TV networks, digital properties, distribution partners, theme parks and talent.

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Another day, another skinny bundle launch. Yesterday, YouTube took the wraps off its long-rumored skinny bundle, dubbed YouTube TV, which will debut in unspecified select markets in the coming months. YouTube TV has all the usual skinny bundle characteristics - low price ($35/month), many broadcast and cable TV networks included, but many missing as well (e.g. Viacom, Discovery, AMC, Turner, Scripps, A+E, etc.), and some updated web-like features (unlimited cloud DVR, recommendations powered by Google, UI that integrates YouTube content, etc.).

Fundamentally, YouTube TV’s value proposition to its target market of millennial viewers is the same as other skinny bundles: for a lower monthly price than a typical pay-TV multichannel bundle, you’ll still get access to a lot of great TV, available on all devices.

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Please save two dates on your 2017 calendars for VideoNuze’s big annual conferences. On Wednesday, June 14th, we’ll be hosting our 7th annual VideoNuze Online Video Advertising Summit at the Westin Times Square in NYC. And Wednesday, November 29th will be our 3rd annual SHIFT // Programmatic Video & TV Advertising Summit, also at the Westin.

Last year, each of these conferences drew 425+ attendees, 50+ speakers and 16-18 sponsors. Over the years they have both become must-attend days with well-curated programs, high-impact executive speakers and extensive networking opportunities.

I’m pleased to share that FreeWheel will be the Title partner for both conferences in 2017. Other industry leaders already on board include Premier partners VertaMedia and Videology, Headline partners Beachfront Media, Cedato, SintecMedia, Smart AdServer and Vemba and Branding partner SpotX. If you’re interesting in partnering, please drop me a note.

The web sites for both conferences will be live soon and lots more information will be coming, so stay tuned.

In addition to our VideoNuze conferences, I’m excited to be producing the 3rd annual NABShow Online Video Conference, in Las Vegas on April 24-25. We have an amazing program planned, including two keynote interviews I’ll be doing, on day 1 with Jim Lanzone, Chief Digital Officer of CBS and Chief Executive Officer of CBS Interactive, and on day 2 with Michael Paull, who was just named CEO of BAMTech and was previously VP, Digital Video at Amazon where he led the Amazon Channels business.

You can save $100 on NABShow Conference FlexPass tickets using the code EP06.

YouTube’s app will be added to Comcast’s X1 set-top box later this year, the companies announced this morning. The partnership is a win for both companies and for X1 users. YouTube gains seamless access to millions of X1 users who no longer have to switch inputs to a connected TV device to tap into YouTube’s massive video library on their TVs. For Comcast, integrated YouTube further expands X1’s value proposition as an all-in-one TV/video device.

Of note, the companies said that X1 users will be able to search the YouTube catalog with the X1 voice remote control. Searches for a favorite actor’s clips, a specific music video, recipes, workout routines and more will all be available when users add the word “YouTube” to their voice search request. The YouTube app will bring up relevant results in the same way as, for example, doing the same search on Siri with an iPhone.

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I’m pleased to present the 359th edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.

This week Colin and I interview Arielle Sumits, who is the senior analyst and founder of  Cisco’s Visual Networking Index (“VNI”), which has become the gold standard for forecasting data traffic on fixed and wireless networks globally. The interview is focused on mobile video, which the latest VNI forecasts will account for 78% of mobile traffic in 2021.

Arielle shares many insights about what’s driving mobile video as well as the nuances of the market. We dive into the role of smartphones, the trend toward unlimited data plans by mobile carriers, the impact of “reverse migration” from WiFi networks, how video applications like social, live-streaming and long-form viewing will grow, which companies are driving mobile video content usage, how zero-rating will impact mobile viewing, 5G’s rollout schedule and lots more.

Overall, Arielle provides terrific context on mobile video’s future and her comments reinforce my belief that mobile video is at a tipping point.

Listen in to learn more!
 
Click here to listen to the podcast (32 minutes, 26 seconds)

Click here for previous podcasts

Click here to add the podcast feed to your RSS reader.

The VideoNuze podcast is also available in iTunes...subscribe today!