VideoNuze Posts

Continuing its push to bring more efficiency to the world of online video ad buying, yesterday, Adap.tv introduced "Unified Planner," a media planning solution for agencies and advertisers to optimize campaign performance. The idea is for buyers to have access to multiple data sources, and then easily buy recommended inventory, optimize the ongoing campaign and measure results.

According to Adap.tv, Unified Planner allows buyers to create online video media plans including goals such as recommended sites for targeting desired audiences, expected reach and frequency for the sites, estimated performance, and costs. Inventory is sourced from direct buys and online marketplaces. Once the plan is created, Unified Planner allows changes to be made with visibility into campaign impact.  Buying is done through spot, RTB, upfront commitment or direct buys through automated RFPs.

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Consumers' ongoing adoption of multiple devices has made it harder than ever for advertisers to figure out how to make their spending on video advertising as effective as possible. To help clarify things, yesterday YuMe and IPG Media Lab released a new study yesterday (download here) which shows that while the role of screen size matters, other factors including ad clutter, creative content and context actually matter more in determining ad effectiveness.

In the study, 147 participants were exposed to ads on linear TV, connected TV, PC and mobile devices with ad load and frequency typical of what is found when viewing content on these devices. Four different types of content were shown, depending on participants' interests.  Participants' ad recall, excitement and attention were each measured, through a mix of follow-up surveys and biometric tools.

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Colin Dixon, senior partner at The Diffusion Group and I are back for the 147th edition of the VideoNuze-TDG Report podcast. This week we start with Colin sharing his observations on a session that he attended at IBC in Amsterdam last week, "The Great Connected Television Debate: Will the Internet be the End of Television As We Know It." Colin comes down on the side that "yes, it will," and articulates how the conventional definition of television is melting away as behaviors shift and technology further develops.

Speaking of technology, we then discuss the impact of the iPhone 5 on mobile video. I argued yesterday that it will have a big impact, and although Colin believes iPhone 5 is a bit of a yawn, he agrees that it will push mobile video adoption and usage forward.

Listen in to learn more!


Click here to listen to the podcast (21 minutes, 17 seconds)

Click here for previous podcasts

The VideoNuze-TDG Report podcast is available in iTunes...subscribe today!

Please save the date for the next VideoSchmooze: Online Video Leadership Forum, on Wednesday, December 5th, at the McGraw-Hill conference center in NYC. This will be the 9th VideoSchmooze that VideoNuze has hosted and I think it will be the best yet, packed with lots of learning and networking with industry leaders in an expanded morning format beginning with breakfast at 7:30am and concluding at 12 noon.

2012 has been a huge year for online video and 2013 is shaping up to be event bigger. VideoSchmooze will feature a mix of keynotes, fireside chats and panel discussions during which we will explore the industry through four significant themes: Strategic/Financial, Innovation, TV Everywhere and Monetization/Devices. I am thrilled about the initial speakers who are committed, and I will be sharing further details in the coming weeks. I expect this VideoSchmooze will be another must-attend event for executives responsible for their companies' online video efforts who need to stay on the cutting edge.

Currently thePlatform and AOL are on board as sponsors, and additional opportunities are available (please contact me if interested).

No doubt you've already read a lot about the new iPhone 5. It's hard to add anything material to the conversation, except that, at the risk of stating the obvious, it sure feels like it's going to have a significant impact on mobile video. The combination of a bigger, higher resolution display, support for faster, 4G LTE wireless networks, longer battery life, a more powerful processor, 720p HD FaceTime and better video recording, and importantly a new and improved YouTube app are key ingredients for fueling a better mobile video experience, and therefore more use.

And with 45-50 million units projected to be shipped in Q4 alone, iPhone 5's impact on mobile video could be felt very quickly and broadly. It's going to be fun to watch (and yes, if you were curious, I'm planning to drop my Droid and get the iPhone 5).

Is online video its own medium, or is it a farm league for those aspiring to make the transition to the majors of traditional TV? This has been a persistent question for years, and has gained more attention as numerous big-name celebrities have begun creating online-only originals. Are these stars committed to online video, or is it just a stepping stone to the conventional TV world they know so well and have benefiting from so greatly?

No doubt, the question will be re-visited anew, as former Fox News host - and current online video star - Glenn Beck has announced this morning a new distribution deal with Dish Network for his online network TheBlazeTV, along with the intention to pursue other pay-TV carriage deals. Regardless of what you think of his politics, Beck's move back into pay-TV, leveraging his success online, will surely be viewed as a template by others looking to make a similar leap.

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YouTube's new app for the iPhone and iPod touch is now live and available for download. The news comes a month after Apple said it wouldn't include its own YouTube app in the next version of iOS, thereby paving the way for YouTube to build and deploy its own.

In a blog post, YouTube described some of the key benefits of the new app: tens of thousands more videos, a channel guide with swipe navigation, enhanced search tools and the ability to share videos via Facebook, Google+, Twitter, email and text. I'm not an iPhone user (though plan to be shortly), so I haven't been able to test the new app. However, the description suggests a lot of commonality with the Android app I'm accustomed to, though the UI does seem a bit different.

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I TiVo'd the "60 Minutes" interview with Mark Owen (his pen name), one of the Navy SEALs who shot Osama Bin Laden and has now written the new book, "No Easy Day" about the operation. As luck would have it, because of the U.S. Open women's finals, my TiVo stopped recording a third of the way into the interview. Frustrating, but not the first time this has happened. No problem, I figured I'd just go online to 60 Minutes' web site and the interview would be right there, front and center. Right? Wrong.

Oddly, if you visit the 60 Minutes site, you will see a large picture and the headline "SEAL's first-hand account of bin Laden killing" (in rotation with 2 other unrelated stories receiving equal prominence), but not the video itself embedded. In fact, if you scan the home page to try to find the link to watch the full episode, a thumbnail for it can't be found until about a quarter of the way down a lengthy page, well below the fold and after a group of related behind-the-scenes videos from 60 Minutes Overtime.

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