VideoNuze Posts

Moat has extended its measurement and reporting capabilities to include Watchwith’s in-program advertising within TV shows, under a new partnership announced by the companies today. Moat will use its MRC-accredited platform to measure and report in-program ads’  aggregate audience time spent and user engagement with in-program ads. The reporting will be enabled on both desktop and in mobile video apps.

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Demand-side platform DataXu has published a new white paper on programmatic TV which provides great insights on opportunities and challenges going into 2016. The paper notes there’s still a lot of confusion around how to define programmatic TV and what the unique benefits are. The paper does a nice job of breaking down different types of programmatic TV opportunities and use cases. To make things more tangible, it also includes an auto manufacturer case study.

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As VideoNuze readers know, the site is 100% focused on the online video and related industries. I respect that you are busy and read VideoNuze for business reasons, so I don't want to distract you with personal details. However, today I'm making an exception.

I’m excited to share news that is special to me: my 15 1/2 year-old daughter Abby has written her 4th book of fiction, “The Bell Sisters’ Discovery.” As with the prior 3 books, my wife Sarah and I have self-published it using Amazon's CreateSpace. Abby is selling the book for $10 and ALL of the proceeds are being donated to She’s the First, a non-profit that provides scholarships to girls in low-income countries.

Abby’s passion for writing dates back to her elementary school years, when she loved to create short stories. In 4th grade, one of them became her first self-published book, “Very Berry,” (all proceeds donated to Reading is Fundamental). Next came “Starring Eliza” in 6th grade (all proceeds donated to The Nature Conservancy). That was followed by “Beatrice’s Fortune” in 7th grade (all proceeds donated to Music & Youth Initiative). To date, Abby has raised nearly $6,000 for all of these wonderful organizations which Abby has found and identified with.

Each book is approximately 100-125 pages. They have become increasingly sophisticated as Abby’s writing has developed. “The Bell Sisters’ Discovery” is a compelling story of how 4 sisters, age 7 to 14, are inspired to overcome their respective personal challenges after discovering and reading the personal diary entries of a famous twentieth-century author.

Writing (and selling) the books has been an amazing growth experience for Abby, who more recently has also been publishing non-fiction online posts. Of course I’m a proud papa; her ability to do all this at a such a young age is terrific. This is her “thing,” just as other kids distinguish themselves in sports, art, music or other areas.

This holiday season, as you think about stocking stuffers, belated Hanukkah gifts and other inexpensive, but meaningful items for girls (and boys) ages 5-14, please consider “The Bell Sisters’ Discovery” and Abby’s other books. They are uplifting, original stories of girls learning to navigate life's ups and downs, while understanding the value of interpersonal relationships and how to make a difference in the world. Over the years we’ve have been told countless times that Abby’s books have helped spark young kids' interest in reading and writing plus initiated a variety of other personal “giving-back” projects.

If you have a daughter, granddaughter, niece, friend's child, or another girl (or boy!) who's special to you, I'm confident that any of Abby's books would be a cherished gift. And, in the spirit of the holiday season, your purchase(s) will help make the world a better place for all of us.

Click here to buy “The Bell Sisters’ Discovery” on Amazon, or visit Abby’s web site for more information.

Thank you, and wishing you all the best this holiday season.

I'm pleased to present the 302nd edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.

Earlier this week I wrote bullishly about Amazon’s new “Streaming Partners Program,” (SPP), which could disrupt the SVOD industry. I emphasized the word “could” because, as with everything in life, execution is everything.

In that post, I noted that SPP on Amazon’s web site was already implemented well, but that the iPhone app experience didn’t work. In today’s podcast, Colin shares his experiences on both Android and Fire TV, which are shockingly incomplete.

It’s very surprising to see Amazon, which is typically an execution machine, come up so short here, and it suggests they rushed SPP to market before being 100% ready.

Implementation issues aside, we discuss the overall merits of SPP and Colin’s view that Netflix is actually better positioned for an SPP-like role in SVOD. I still like Amazon’s SPP strategy a lot and will keep an eye on how things unfold.

Listen now to learn more!

Click here to listen to the podcast (22 minutes, 33  seconds)

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The past week has brought some pretty remarkable statements from Verizon executives, suggesting that the company - which has long-trumpeted its FiOS TV service - has all but thrown in the towel on traditional pay-TV. The decision has broad implications for the pay-TV and broadband industries.

First, at this week’s Ignition conference, Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam said “People do not want 300-channel bundles and the economics won’t work for that.” Instead he’s betting on Verizon’s skinnier “Custom TV” service, which averages between 40-60 channels, and which McAdam said now drives “40% of FiOS’ subscriber volume.” McAdam also talked up Verizon’s Go90 mobile video service as a potential substitute and the company having hired “a couple thousand people” in Silicon Valley.

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With my focus yesterday on Amazon’s introduction of its Streaming Partners Program and my recognition as a top 10 media writer by LinkedIn, I didn’t have a chance to weigh in on something else significant, which is that Clearleap has been acquired by IBM (terms weren't disclosed). I have covered Clearleap for years and was able to catch up with CEO Braxton Jarratt later in the day to learn more about what drove the deal and what to expect going forward.

Braxton said that Clearleap will be a wholly-owned IBM subsidiary, retaining all of its employees and offices while being integrated into IBM Cloud. Clearleap will continue to provide its cloud-based video/OTT services to customers including HBO, A+E Networks, NFL, BBC America, Time Warner Cable, Verizon and others but it will gain new sales/business development leverage internationally, which is a key company focus. Clearleap’s solutions will be sold by IBM’s Media and Entertainment teams internationally, with incremental Clearleap staff to be hired internationally as well.

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Amazon made a very significant announcement this morning, unveiling its “Streaming Partners Program,” which I believe could disrupt the entire SVOD industry if executed well. There are many ramifications of the Streaming Partners Program (which has been rumored, and I’ll call “SPP” for short) that I’ll explain below, albeit based on still limited information.

First, what is SPP? From an SVOD provider’s perspective, it’s an opportunity to have Amazon promote the SVOD service to tens of millions of Prime subscribers, with special pricing and promotions. Amazon handles subscriber acquisition, customer service, billing, credit card management, video streaming and device compatibility. Basically it frees up SVOD providers to focus on what they do best - create great content. Amazon announced that Showtime, Starz and 18 other SVOD providers are initial SPP partners.

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