VideoNuze Posts

Seeking to further educate the market about the benefits of outstream video advertising, ad tech provider Teads has unveiled a first-of-its-kind programmatic outstream accreditation program for ad agencies and trading desks.

Teads was a pioneer in outstream ads, which are video ads that play against non-video inventory. Given the high expense of creating premium video content and its scarcity, outstream ads have become a hugely popular way for premium publishers to monetize their content.

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I'm pleased to present the 325th edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.

It’s been nearly 5 years since the Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson was published, in which Jobs said “I finally cracked it,” referencing a next-generation TV he envisioned. But despite incessant rumors since of Apple’s plans to reinvent TV, the reality is more sobering: Apple seems to be completely stymied in video and TV.

Sure, there’s iTunes and there’s a new Apple TV, which appears to be selling reasonably well, and soon an original TV show. But when you consider how Netflix, Amazon, Facebook, YouTube, Comcast, Snapchat and others have innovated and flourished in video and TV over the last 5 years, Apple’s progress seems pretty modest by comparison.

In today’s podcast we explore why Apple seems to have become an also-ran in video. We’re both surprised at this turn of events given Apple’s vast resources, superior design capabilities and omnipresent devices (see more of Colin’s thoughts here). Perhaps the famously secretive Apple has a video surprise just ahead, but from our current vantage point, Apple looks like it will just continue to fade further behind the leaders.

Listen now to learn more!

Click here to listen to the podcast (23 minutes, 5 seconds)

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The VideoNuze podcast is also available in iTunes...subscribe today! (note the link has been updated)

New research from GfK shows that SVOD services may be hitting subscribers’ limit on willingness to pay, in turn crimping the potential for future rate increases. GfK found the average willingness to pay was $10.82/month for Netflix, $9.10/month for Amazon, $9.96/month for Hulu ad-free and $5.01 for Hulu ad-supported.

Adding to the pricing pressure, GfK also found that cost was the most important attribute in picking an SVOD service, cited by 75% of respondents. The second most cited attribute was “availability of specific programs” (69%) followed by “availability of new movies” (68%).

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Online video and TV advertising are converging as viewers increasingly watch long-form content - entertainment, news and sports - on multiple devices. How this convergence is actually happening and the key challenges that remain are a critical focus of our 6th annual VideoNuze Online Video Advertising Summit, coming up 2 weeks from today, on Tuesday, June 14th in NYC.

Two of our sessions will directly address convergence, one from the opportunities standpoint and the other from the challenges standpoint. Our opening session, “Convergence Realized: Why TV and Video are Now Inseparable” will set the stage for the day, by exploring strategic drivers behind convergence such as fragmenting viewership, advertisers’ interest in efficient, cross-platform campaigns, the unifying role of data, etc.

Videology’s Managing Director, North America Tim Castree will share a short presentation with the latest data, and then moderate a session with David Bickford (Head of TV Sales & Multi-Platform Group Director, Bloomberg Media), Jon Heller (Co-Founder and Co-CEO, FreeWheel), Nick Johnson (SVP, Digital Ad Sales Strategy, Turner Ad Sales) and Paul Williamson (Chief Investment Officer, Publicis Media Exchange - U.S.).

Even as the convergence opportunities are sizable, so too are the challenges, with many moving pieces, manual inefficiencies and disjointed workflows. So the afternoon companion session, “How to Move Video Ads at the Speed of Today,” will dig into these and other challenges, as well as explore current solutions.

The session is moderated by Prohaska Consulting’s Steve Grubbs and includes Peter Olsen (EVP, National Ad Sales, A+E Networks), John Roland (CEO and Co-Founder, Extreme Reach) and Mitch Weinstein (SVP, Director of Ad Operations, IPG Mediabrands). Expect to come away from both sessions with an improved understanding of how convergence is playing out and what still needs to be done.

In addition, there are 11 other sessions planned at the Video Ad Summit, which features 50 speakers in total. All of the most important industry topics will be explored, with convergence as the over-arching theme.

Review the whole program and register now!

I'm pleased to present the 324th edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.

Earlier this week provided a synopsis of a fascinating article in Vulture describing the massive changes that big SVOD providers have brought to the TV production business. The most startling statistic is that the number of scripted TV shows has soared from 36 in 2005 to over 400 in 2015.

In today’s podcast we discuss the consequences of this explosion and speculate on whether all of this is sustainable, or whether a bubble has been created, and if so, what might cause it to burst. Colin is more optimistic that current production volumes can continue, while I’m more skeptical simply because SVOD business models are still in flux.

Another dimension to the value of more TV shows is how important both stacking rights for current seasons and access to back catalogs are becoming for the existing ecosystem. With VOD, binge-viewing and time-shifting all on the rise, there appears to be an emerging consensus on broader availability of TV shows. We explore all of this as well.

Listen now to learn more!

Click here to listen to the podcast (23 minutes, 1 second)

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 the link has been updated)

GroupM’s advanced TV unit MODI Media will use Innovid as its preferred ad server for all connected TV campaigns, the companies announced today. Seth Walters, senior partner at MODI, who oversees its connected TV business, told me that Innovid addresses a key pain point of delivering video adds into the highly fragmented connected TV space, while also offering real-time analytics on campaign performance across devices.

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Yesterday research firm Strategy Analytics released a forecast showing growth in domestic SVOD spending will slow slightly in 2016 vs. 2015 and then drop by almost 50% in 2021, to just 8% year-over-year. The 2016 slowdown is nominal - a $1.19 billion increase vs. a $1.21 billion increase in 2015, which could be easily tweaked by minor changes to churn rates, as just one example. Domestic SVOD spending in 2016 will be $6.62 billion, still an increase of 22% year-over-year, a growth rather most industries would happily take.

The key takeaway shouldn’t be the current year forecast, but rather what’s expected over the next 5 years, to 2021. Strategy Analytics Digital Media Director Michael Goodman said that the spending forecast was modeled assuming an 85% saturation rate of broadband households in 2021, comparable to pay-TV’s current adoption (60% of households currently subscribe to one or more SVOD services), with Netflix alone accounting for 53% of subscriptions.

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One of the highlights of the upcoming 6th annual VideoNuze Online Video Advertising Summit on Tuesday, June 14th in NYC will be my morning keynote interview with Marc Debevoise, EVP/GM of CBS Digital Media at CBS Interactive.

Marc oversees all of CBS Interactive’s major digital properties in Entertainment, Sports and News. These include CBS.com, CBS apps, SVOD service CBS All Access, CBSSports.com, CBSNews.com and the 24/7 digital news network CBSN, among others. Marc also manages all digital content distribution on all platforms, TV Everywhere and original digital productions.

All of this gives Marc an excellent perspective on what’s happening at the intersection of online video and TV. I’ve known Marc for years and have always been impressed by how he balances strategic priorities and practical realities.

In our discussion, Marc will discuss what he sees as the most important industry trends and how they’re informing CBS’s digital strategies. We’ll dive into topics such as how convergence is shaping CBS’s monetization approaches, the value of platforms such as YouTube, Facebook and Amazon to video providers, CBS’s goals in providing marquee TV programming for its CBS All Access SVOD service, how the company is leveraging viewer data and much more. Marc will also share thoughts on where the industry is heading in the near term.

Overall the session will offer valuable insights for anyone with a stake in the video/TV business going forward. Marc will also take audience questions at the end of the session.

Aside from Marc’s keynote interview, there are a dozen other sessions throughout the day focused on all of the hottest topics in the industry and featuring 40+ senior executives. The Video Ad Summit promises to be a must-attend day of learning and networking for anyone who wants to really understand what’s happening with the convergence of video and TV.

Learn more and register now!