VideoNuze Posts

I’m pleased to present the 426th edition of the VideoNuze podcast, with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.

First up on this week’s podcast, we discuss Magid’s latest research showing another uptick in cord-cutting intent among pay-TV subscribers, especially for millennials. Even sports fans are now considering cutting the cord. Perhaps most surprising, cost is no longer the main motivator; it’s not watching enough TV to make it worth it.

That’s indicative of more pay-TV subscribers shifting their viewership to SVOD, and suggesting an opportunity for low-cost virtual pay-TV operators to gain momentum. One such player, Sling TV just made some interesting updates to its service this week which we discuss.

I think the Magid research is part of the reason why we need to revise how we talk about cord-cutting. Increasingly, I think an equally, if not more appealing, option for prospective cord-cutters will be downgrading to a skinny bundle, rather than dropping entirely. More on this on VideoNuze soon.


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Skinny bundles are a hot topic in the industry as a bona fide alternative to prospective cord-cutters. One of the big benefits of skinny bundles is that they rejuvenate linear TV viewing in the living room, which can be a potentially enormous new source of targetable TV ad inventory.

At our recent VideoNuze Online Video Ad Summit, we dug into this unfolding opportunity on a session with Brendan Canning (SVP and Head of Distribution, Stadium), Samantha Casagrande (Associate Director, Media Investment, Wieden + Kennedy), Andy Hammond (VP, Sales, fuboTV), which I moderated.

Watch the session video now!

A survey conducted by 4C and Advertiser Perceptions indicates that ad buyers are pursuing cross-channel campaigns but remain challenged by a lack of unified measurement. The survey, of 300 ad decision-makers in the U.S. and U.K., found that 75% are running integrated campaigns, with 22% saying they intend to do so within a year, and another 3% saying they have no plans to do so. Video is a key catalyst in driving cross-channel as viewers fragment among platforms.

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A critical challenge facing video providers is how to balance distribution of their content on platforms vs. on their owned & operated properties. At the recent VideoNuze Online Video Ad Summit, we dug deeply into this topic in a session featuring Trevor Fellows (EVP, Digital Sales and Partnerships, NBCUniversal), Paul Kontonis (Chief Marketing Officer, WHOSAY Viacom), Blake Sabatinelli (CEO, Newsy E.W. Scripps) with Lorne Brown (CEO, Operative) moderating.

Each of the panelists did an excellent job articulating the specific benefits they seek out in platform deals such as incremental reach, enhanced branding and stronger monetization. They talk about how platform distribution deals work and why advertising is central, the role of data and demographic fit, why producing compelling, premium content is paramount, how they choose to allocate finite resources among various platforms and why scale matters so much, among other topics.

For anyone considering how to monetize video everywhere, while maintaining a strong O&O presence, the session is really valuable.

Watch the session video now!

CBS has been one of the most innovative big media companies pursuing OTT initiatives. At the June 12th VideoNuze Ad Summit, we were privileged to have David Lawenda, CBS’s EVP, Digital Sales and Sales Strategy as our keynote guest, interviewed by Mike Shields, Business Insider’s Advertising Editor.

David addresses many interesting topics including how CBS is catching up to Facebook and Google in data-enabling its ad inventory, the benefits of its direct-to-consumer services like CBS All Access in understanding viewer behavior, how ready agencies really are to buy beyond age and gender today, whether TV networks reducing their ad loads will meet with success, the impact no holistic measurement capability, the role programmatic TV will or won’t play in the future, how CBS’s upfront is going so far and much more.

For anyone interested in learning how CBS and network TV are adapting to the vastly changing video landscape, the interview is must-see.

Watch the interview now!

How data is being used to improve monetization and user experiences is one of the hottest industry topics these days. But is data living up to its potential? At our recent VideoNuze Online Video Ad Summit, we focused a session on this question, with panelists including George Musi (EVP, Data, Analytics, Insights, Blue 449/Publicis Media), Lance Neuhauser (CEO, 4C), Bre Rosetti (SVP, Director of Strategy and Innovation, Havas Media), Vikram Somaya (SVP, Global Data Officer and Ad Platforms, ESPN) and Dan Punt (Managing Director, FTI Consulting) moderating.

The session explored the value of data for brands, using data to uncover what’s meaningful to consumers, how to deal with limitations imposed by walled gardens, how data can power subscription models, when does value of data actually start to diminish, the importance of having the right infrastructure and talent in place, evolving to data-driven decision-making, complying with GDPR and much more.

Watch the session video now!

Magid released highlights from its new Media Consumption Survey 2018 at VidCon last week, including unsurprisingly, that cord-cutting intent is continuing to rise, especially among millennials. 7.9% of pay-TV subscribers age 18-64 years-old said they were “extremely likely” to cancel their service in the next 12 months, up from 6.1% in 2017. But 14% of millennials said they plan to do so. Even 10% of live sports enthusiasts said they are “very likely” to cut the cord.

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Everyone understands that being able to seamlessly run and measure cross-screen video ads is the holy grail. But behind the scenes there are all kinds of challenges, which were explored in the opening session of our recent VideoNuze Online Video Ad Summit, which included Mark London (VP, Ad Operations, Advanced Ad Products, Fox), Greg Lubetkin (Executive Director of Sales Operations, Disney ABC Digital) and Bunker Sessions (VP, Business Development, Extreme Reach) moderating.

The panelists discussed buyers’ expectations for unified analytics, optimizing monetization of all video streams, brand safety, maintaining strong user experiences with ad insertion, the role of AD-ID, how to manage programmatic across platforms and much more.
 

Watch the session video now!