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Happy Labor Day and End of Summer
Happy Labor Day to VideoNuze readers here in the U.S. and to all, a happy end of summer. Many of us are getting in some time off before back-to-school and back-to-work realities kick in next week, and so no there's no new VideoNuze content today. However, I'll be back on Tuesday, with regular VideoNuze coverage.
Kicking off next week, I'll provide analysis of the Starz-Netflix non-renewal, and what the implications are for each party. As VideoNuze readers know, I've been a keen Netflix observer and this latest turn of events is part of the larger story of Netflix reckoning with its own massive success, as TDG's Colin Dixon and I forecast would happen this year. The Starz situation is illustrative of Hollywood's wariness in dealing with a far bigger and more influential Netflix.
See you on Tuesday, and enjoy your holiday weekends!Categories: Miscellaneous
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Hulu Japan Subscription Service Goes Live
Hulu Japan has gone live, marking Hulu's first international expansion. Hulu Japan runs 1,480 yen per month, or about $19, which is more than double the $8 per month that Hulu Plus in the U.S. runs. However, Hulu Japan is ad-free, whereas Hulu Plus includes the same ad load as the free Hulu.com site. The initial content line-up includes films and TV shows from CBS, NBCUniversal International Television Distribution, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox, The Walt Disney Company (Japan) which includes content from Disney/ABC Television Group and The Walt Disney Studios, and Warner Bros. Hulu indicated that additional content is forthcoming, including Japanese-produced plus other Asian content.
Categories: Aggregators, International
Topics: Hulu Japan
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Who Are Video Ad Networks Really Working For?
Following is a guest post from Erik Swain, Vice President of Operations of SpotXchange, a leading online video ad network and marketplace.
Who Are Video Ad Networks Really Working For?
by Erik Swain
According to a recent eMarketer report online video ad spending will grow 52% this year. This $2.2 billion industry has caused a surge of ad networks to sprout up to meet customer demand. But beware. In order to leverage this gold rush of video ad spending, ad networks are striking deals with publishers that may not be in the advertiser’s best interest. And that’s bad for everyone.
How Online Video Advertising Works Today
Buying media for online video ads is similar to display media. Advertisers can purchase impressions from a video ad network to reach their ideal audiences across a variety of publishers. Some of these networks are blind, meaning they provide assurances that the ads are reaching the right audiences but no insight into on which sites the ads appear. Other networks are transparent, meaning they give the advertiser full visibility into the publishers where ads run. And there’s the most common middle ground, often referred to as opaque, where ad networks provide a list of the publishers it works with and sites where ads are likely to run.
Categories: Advertising
Topics: SpotXchange
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NDS Unveils VideoGuard Connect DRM; Sky Go and DirecTV As Initial Customers
NDS has unveiled VideoGuard Connect, a DRM solution for pay-TV operators looking to securely distribute linear and on-demand content to connected
devices. In addition, NDS is announcing that U.S. satellite operator DirecTV has adopted VideoGuard Connect to deliver video online and to iOS and Android devices, while the U.K.'s BSkyB has adopted it to deliver video for its Sky Go service to iOS devices. NDS's Nigel Smith, VP/Chief Marketing Officer and Leonid Sandler, CTO of its DRM group briefed me on the new DRM solution.
Categories: Cable TV Operators, Devices, DRM, Satellite
Topics: NDS
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Innovid Raises $9.5 Million to Fuel Interactive Video Ads
Innovid, whose iRoll interactive pre-roll ad unit delivers a higher ROI for advertisers and publishers, is announcing a $9.5 million Series B financing led by
Sequoia Capital, with participation from current investors Genesis Capital and T-Venture. The new funds will help fuel global expansion. Innovid is Sequoia's first investment in the video advertising space. Innovid raised a $4 million first round in September, 2010.
Innovid is now integrated with every U.S. video ad network and 2,100 sites are iRoll certified. iRoll allows advertisers to reach viewers with a limitless array of engagement opportunities, far beyond what standard pre-rolls can offer (a gallery of examples is here). These can include social media sharing, shopping opportunities and localized information, among others. Innovid has also introduced DYNAMO, an ad serving and analytics platform that works with all pre-roll ads and can also measure and report all interactions with iRoll ads.
Categories: Advertising, Deals & Financings
Topics: Innovid, Sequoia Capital
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For Hulu, Flat Viewership But Better Monetization During Past Year
As prospective bidders for Hulu have assessed its value, two of the key things they have no doubt focused on are the site's viewership metrics and monetization. If comScore data for Hulu for the past year is a good proxy, then bidders have likely observed that Hulu's monthly viewership has stayed within a pretty tight range. Meanwhile, monetization has improved, but has also stayed pretty consistent since a step up in Q4 '10. Below are three charts I've created from comScore's data that illustrate these points.
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In-Stream Mobile Video Ad Completion Rates Running Strong
In-stream mobile video ad completion rates are running strong according to new data that mobile video ad network Rhythm NewMedia has shared with me. According to their data, completion rates for pre-roll and mid-roll ads in Q2 '11 averaged 87%, consistent with the prior 5 quarters. The ads viewed are mostly 15 seconds in duration.
Rhythm also reported that a total of just over 6 ads are viewed during full length episodes from premium content partners TV.com, The CW, Crackle and others. Typically there is one ad per break. In addition, total content views grew 200% from Q1 '11 to Q2 '11. Mobile devices include iOS and Android, with 60% of views delivered over WiFi networks.
Categories: Advertising, Mobile Video
Topics: Rhythm NewMedia
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Digital Movie Purchase and Rental Activity Remains Anemic
Earlier this week IHS Screen Digest Media Research released market share information for the top 5 U.S. digital/online movie stores for the first half of 2011, which together represent approximately 96% of the market. In addition, IHS released information on revenues generated for both purchase/download (Electronic sell-through or "EST") and rental (Internet video on demand or "iVOD").
In the chart below, I've taken the IHS data a step further to estimate each of the top 5 stores' revenues and transaction volume from EST and iVOD (note IHS only provides combined EST+iVOD market share information so for simplicity I have assumed each individual store's share is the same for both EST and iVOD though no doubt there are some variations). The data leads to a clear conclusion that years after movies have been available for digital purchase/download and rental, activity remains anemic, suggesting very low levels of consumer interest, particularly as compared with DVD purchase or rental/subscription options.
Categories: Aggregators, Commerce, FIlms
Topics: Amazon, IHS, iTunes, Microsoft, Sony, VUDU, Wal-Mart
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