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Top 10 Super Bowl Ads Gain A Quick $1 Million In Online Video Exposure
New research is out this morning showing how Super Bowl advertisers benefit from ongoing online video viewership. Kantar Video, an online video analytics provider, estimates that the top 10 Super Bowl ads generated an additional $1 million worth of media exposure in just the first 3 days after the game, with Volkswagen's top-performing "The Force" ad, gaining almost $540K itself. Note "The Force" has already picked up an incredible 27 million YouTube views (see below).
Categories: Advertising
Topics: Kantar Video
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Cisco Feels Pain of Shifting Set-Top Box Landscape
This week technology giant Cisco reported its fiscal Q2 earnings and once again sales of its set-top boxes to big pay-TV operators were a glaring weak spot. This business has practically gone off a cliff, falling 29% from last year'ssimilar quarter, a loss which followed a 40% decline in North America set-top sales for the prior quarter. While Cisco tried to put a positive spin on things by pointing to stronger sales of its IP-enabled set-tops and international results, the problems reflect a significant shift in how pay-TV operators view set-top boxes in a larger IP-related context, trends which are likely to only accelerate going forward.
Categories: Cable TV Operators, Devices
Topics: Cisco, Comcast, Samsung, Sony, Time Warner Cable
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Cable Industry Skirmishes With FCC Over Set-top Boxes
Speaking of set-top boxes, the cable industry, through its NCTA lobbying arm, was skirmishing this week on yet another regulatory front, the FCC's ongoing "AllVid" inquiry, which would possibly crack open the customer premiseequipment (CPE) by establishing an IP-based standard. Google, Sony and other CE companies are lobbying for AllVid as a way of streamlining delivery of over-the-top content into living rooms. Cable operators are arguing that such a move would compromise existing network licensing models. A more overarching concern is that a regulatory mandated approach would significantly level the playing field for new entrants to compete for consumers' attention.
Categories: Cable TV Operators, Devices, Regulation
Topics: AllVid, FCC, Google, NCTA, Sony
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Apple Dominates Still Small Movie Download Business
Earlier this week IHS Screen Digest released market share estimates for major movie download or "EST" (electronic sell through) outlets in 2010, and no surprise, Apple's iTunes was atop the group, with a dominant 64.5% position. However, that was down 10 points from 2009, as Microsoft, Sony and others all gained share. IHS Screen Digest's research analyst Arash Amel noted that in 2011, Apple is going to face a potentially powerful new competitor in Wal-Mart, which acquired the Vudu VOD service early last year, which could turn the "iVOD" market into a 2 horse race.
Categories: Aggregators, Downloads, FIlms
Topics: Apple, IHS Screen Digest, iTunes, Microsoft, Sony, UltraViolet, Wal-Mart
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VideoNuze Report Podcast #87 - Feb. 11, 2011
Daisy Whitney and I are pleased to present the 87th edition of the VideoNuze Report podcast, for February 11, 2011.
In this podcast, Daisy and I do a deep dive into the role of sports in pay-TV packaging, based on my post from Monday, "Not A Sports Fan? Then You're Getting Sacked For At Least $2 Billion Per Year." I think this is a fascinating topic and something that has been under-reported even though it has huge implications for pay-TV subscription rates as over-the-top services gain awareness.
The basic premise of my post was that since a relatively small cluster of sports-oriented channels (e.g. ESPN, TNT, Regional Sports Networks and others) collectively cost pay-TV operators $10 per month, then the charges being incurred by non-fans and casual who fans who rarely, if ever watch these channels, could amount to at least $2 billion per year. Since writing the post and gaining feedback from various sources, it's actually quite possible that the annual charges incurred in exchange for little-to-no value could exceed $3 billion. Whatever the number is, it's very large, and effectively represents a massive subsidy that non-fans and casual fans pay each year because of escalating sports TV rights deals and astronomical player compensation.
Click here to listen to the podcast (17 minutes, 8 seconds)
Click here for previous podcasts
The VideoNuze Report is available in iTunes...subscribe today!
Categories: Cable Networks, Cable TV Operators, Podcasts, Satellite, Sports, Telcos
Topics: Comcast SportsNet, ESPN, Hulu, NESN, Netflix, Podcast, RSN, TNT
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Panache Goes Social With New Ad Format
Online video ad provider Panache launched a clever new format today called the "Social Offer" which responds to the number one request it receives from brands: what can we do in social? Panache's VP of Marketing Jill Druschke brought me up to speed on how the ad format works and what its objectives are.
The Social Offer format takes existing pre-roll creative and integrates it with social features from Twitter, Facebook and others that offer an API. The goal is to drive more engagement and increase CPMs. In a sample ad for Coke (see below), an overlay pops up that prompts the viewer to receive Coke Rewards points by tweeting about the ad. When the viewer clicks and authorizes a connection to Twitter, a pre-populated tweet appears with a hashtag for the campaign. The tweet is completed, the video then continues to roll and the viewer receives a message with the reward code.
Categories: Advertising
Topics: Panache
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Options For Moving Video From Smartphones/Tablets to TVs Keep Growing
Have you ever had the experience of watching video on your smartphone or tablet and feel like you'd prefer to watch it on your big TV? If so, there is a growing range of options to help make this happen, including:
Skifta - an Android app from Qualcomm that lets you play local or cloud-based media on any DLNA-certified device.
AirPlay - a relatively new feature in Apple devices (iPhone, iPad, iPod) running iOS 4.2 or later with one-click ability send media to other connected Apple devices (e.g. Apple TV, AirPlay-ready devices, etc.).
Rovi Connected Platform - Rovi, the digital entertainment infrastructure provider, just announced yesterday a new Android solution for CE manufacturers to allow their devices to move media around the home to connected devices.
SnapStick - the intriguing start-up that lets users of any mobile device to "snap" their media over to the TV by gently flicking the device in the TV's direction.
Categories: Devices
Topics: AirPlay, Comcast, Microsoft, Rovi, Skifta, SnapStick, Sonos
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Sharethrough Is On A Roll As Brands' Social Video Surges
Sharethrough, the social video ad platform and distribution network, is on a roll as brands of all sizes are shifting some of their focus to creating their own immersive video experiences that go far beyond traditional 15 and 30-second TV spots. Sharethrough's role is to help get branded content into the social media slipstream, to be viewed and shared by target audiences. Earlier this week Sharethrough's CEO and founder Dan Greenberg brought me up to speed on the company's progress and also the changes he's seeing in the market.
Dan reports that in 2010 Sharethrough grew its agency client base by 43%, adding to its roster firms such as Pereira & O'Dell, Universal McCann, Evolution Bureau and Goodby, Silverstein & Partners. As Dan explained, agencies are increasingly being called upon by their brand clients to create distinctive video campaigns that capitalize on the trends toward online video and social media. In this way brands themselves are becoming content creators, moving from an "interrupter mindset" to an "entertainment mindset." For the agency creative teams, this shift is extremely liberating; the expanded format lets them flex their creative muscles to a much greater extent. A terrific recent example of this is the gorgeous 2-minute Chrysler "Imported from Detroit" spot with Eminem that aired during the Super Bowl (already with 4.5 million YouTube views). It feels totally different than any car ad and much more like a short film.
Categories: Branded Entertainment, Social Media
Topics: Sharethrough