VideoNuze Posts

You can save $100 now on registration for the 9th annual VideoNuze Video Advertising Summit on Wednesday, May 29th at the Westin Times Square in NYC. On top of saving $100, you also double your chances* of winning a 55-inch Roku 4K TV, generously provided by Roku.
 
The Video Ad Summit is a must-attend event for anyone in the industry interested in a deep dive into video advertising, especially the converging worlds of online, traditional TV, mobile and connected TV advertising as well as the broader digital landscape. The program will feature a mix of keynotes, panel discussions, fireside chats and research presentations, covering the most critical topics in the industry. I’ll be sharing detailed program information and our first group of speakers shortly.

Last year's Video Ad Summit drew over 300 attendees and 50 executive speakers. The 2019 Video Ad Summit will once again be the premier video-focused event of the year.
 
I'm excited to have 10 industry-leading companies on board as initial partners, including Title Partner Deloitte Consulting; Premier Partners Extreme Reach and Telaria; Headline Partners Beachfront Media, Penthera, SpotX, TiVo and Xandr; and Branding Partners Brightcove and Roku.
 
If you'd like to learn more about speaking and partnership opportunities, please contact me.
 
Learn more and register now!
 
(*Early bird registrants get 2 entries for the Roku 4K TV drawing.)

AT&T is revamping its programming packages for DirecTV Now, and one thing that is clear is that HBO is returning to its traditional workhorse role in driving consumer appeal for a list of ad-supported TV networks.

According to Cord Cutters News, AT&T will introduce two new packages, DirecTV Now Plus and DirecTV Now Max for $50/month and $70/month respectively. Subscribers to current packages will be grandfathered in, but will see a $10/month rate increase, so the current entry level Live a Little package will move up to $50/month.

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I’m pleased to present the 457th edition of the VideoNuze podcast, with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.

On this week’s podcast we’re joined by Dan Robbins, who is Roku’s director of advertising and programming research. We explore all of the angles around Roku’s connected TV (CTV) ad business, which has become a critical driver of its growth. As Dan explains, Roku is hyper-focused on helping ad buyers understand how CTV can add incremental value to their campaigns, by using sophisticated tools and industry partnerships.

Among the topics we discuss include which agency buying groups are focused on CTV, how Roku’s measurement partner program is creating new value for advertisers, how Roku is serving the full funnel from lower to upper, why Roku considers itself a “data company, first and foremost,” why the “social contract among advertisers, programmers and viewers is broken,” and lots more.

For anyone interested in how Roku is successfully transitioning its business to ad-supported and the dynamics of the booming CTV category, Dan’s insights are extremely valuable.

Listen in to learn more!

 
Click here to listen to the podcast (24 minutes, 4 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!

Note, Roku is a Branding Partner at our 9th annual Video Advertising Summit on May 29th in NYC. Register early to save and to double your chances of winning a Roku 55-inch 4KTV!

The biggest U.S. cable companies added nearly 2.9 million broadband subscribers in 2018 according to a new report from Leichtman Research Group. That was up from 2.7 million subscribers added in 2017.

Cable-delivered broadband continues to dominate, with 65% share, compared to telcos’ 35%, the biggest gap since Q3 ’03. The biggest telcos collectively lost over 470K broadband subscribers in 2018, slightly better than the 620K they lost in 2017. The top providers combined now have 98.2 million broadband subscribers.

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Large corporations’ priorities are testing creative freedom as more shows than ever compete for attention in the “Peak TV” era and video becomes a critical C-level focus. Exhibit A is Apple, which according to a report yesterday from the NY Post, is vexing creators with an abundance of suggestions (or “notes” in industry parlance) on their shows. The notes, which apparently include some from CEO Tim Cook himself, tend to emphasize Apple’s desire to keep shows “family friendly.”

The goal makes perfect sense; nothing is more important to Apple than its brand image. The prospect of seeing an “Apple Original” icon in the opening credits, followed by an opening scene including profanity, violence or nudity, would be a jarring juxtaposition. Yet this is the “Peak TV” world we now live in; with so many shows competing for viewers’ time, those that are most original and creative, and yes, often include attention-grabbing early scenes, stand out (for a point of reference recall that in the first minutes of Netflix’s “House of Cards” pilot, Kevin Spacey’s character puts a wounded dog out of its misery with his own hands).

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I’m pleased to present the 456th edition of the VideoNuze podcast, with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.

On this week’s podcast we cover 3 different topics. First, AT&T had a busy week - its deal for Time Warner was finally cleared after the DOJ’s appeal was rejected, both HBO CEO Richard Plepler and Turner president David Levy resigned, and a Variety report has Disney interested in buying AT&T’s 10% stake in Hulu. Colin and I discuss all of these and their implications.

Next, Colin weighs in on the new collaboration between the BBC and ITV to launch a version of BritBox in the U.K. and why it matters. Finally, another week, another YouTube content malefactor(s), leading to an advertiser pullback. We discuss how YouTube is playing whack-a-mole but that at the end of the day advertisers need YouTube and are unlikely to leave altogether.
 
Listen in to learn more!

 
Click here to listen to the podcast (24 minutes, 47 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!

Looking for confirmation of the outsized rewards of being well-positioned in the booming connected-TV (CTV) ad space? Then look no further than the Q4 ’18 and full year 2018 performance of 3 public companies representing 3 different vantage points on CTV ads - Telaria, The Trade Desk and Roku - all of which reported strong results in the past week, powered at least in part by their CTV success.

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