VideoNuze Posts

I'm pleased to be joined once again by Colin Dixon, senior partner at The Diffusion Group, for the 120th edition of the VideoNuze Report podcast, for Feb. 10, 2012. In this week's podcast we discuss Nielsen's new Cross-Platform Report for Q3 2011 and its implications for the broader TV industry.

Among the key findings in the report are that pay-TV households dropped slightly overall from Q3 '10 to Q3 '11, with cable homes decreasing to the benefit of telco and satellite. This has been happening for years as newer providers enter the market with aggressive offers. Nielsen also found that the number of "broadcast-only" with broadband homes increased significantly. In addition, a NY Times analysis of Nielsen data found that for viewers in the 12-34 age range, TV viewership per day decreased from Q3 '10 to Q3 '11 by six to nine minutes per day.

This and other Nielsen data underscore what we all know intuitively and from our personal experiences and anecdotes: individual behaviors are changing as new video alternatives and other choices for how we spend time (e.g. social media, video games, etc.) have exploded. All of this contributes to changing perceptions of pay-TV's value. Beyond Nielsen, Colin cites TDG's own data about Netflix users' interest in downgrading their pay-TV service, which jumped from 16% in 2010 to 32% in 2011. Colin believes this shows that for some, online is viewed as a bona fide alternative to pay-TV. Between the Nielsen and TDG data, it's clear that the TV and video landscape is in the early stage of significant change.

Listen in to learn more!



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A+E Networks will use FreeWheel's Monetization Rights Management system to manage video ads running against its content consumed on Apple iOS mobile devices, the companies announced this morning. A+E will be able to deploy video ads on its own mobile properties as well as those of third-party syndication partners. FreeWheel gives A+E the ability to manage ad sales rights, forecast inventory, determine ad loads in specific commercial breaks, and monitor performance, among other things.

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The 2012 presidential election is already in full swing, and in early primary states that's meant a barrage of TV ads from well-funded candidates. But with viewer behaviors shifting away from traditional TV, the Internet has become an increasingly important way of reaching voters. And with online video usage surging, the latest battleground is how to leverage this new medium to their advantage. Enter the new "Jivox Political Ad Kit," an interactive, multi-screen, social media-enabled product from video ad technology provider Jivox.

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There's little subtlety in Adap.tv's current placeholder web site that asks the question, "What does it take to destroy the inefficiencies in TV and video advertising?" Unlike other online video ad technology providers who are positioning themselves to complement the current TV ad buying process, Adap.tv is looking to blow up the traditional approach, replacing it with what CEO/founder Amir Ashkenazi's calls a "programmatic" technology-based alternative. Last week I caught up with Amir to learn more about Adap.tv's mission, and also how it landed as the number 2 video ad provider (just behind Hulu) in comScore's December, '11 ranking, with over 1.1 billion ads served.

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The first-ever streaming Super Bowl attracted over 2.1 million unique viewers, who consumed 78.6 million minutes. That surpassed NBC's expectations, according to Kevin Monaghan, SVP, Business Development and Managing Director of Digital Media at NBC Sports Group, who said that usage increased throughout the game and peaked in Q4 during the Giants' final touchdown drive. According to Omniture and mDialog data, it was the most-viewed live-streamed single game ever.

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Think the world has moved on entirely from renting DVDs to streaming? Think again. Coinstar reported strong Q4 earnings late yesterday, with its Redbox DVD kiosk unit showing 39.5% revenue growth for the quarter. Coinstar attributed Redbox's performance to new kiosks, popularity of new releases and the price increase that went into effect on Oct. 31st.

Coinstar management is also bullish for 2012, forecasting Q1 revenue of $530M-$555M, exceeding analysts' average expectations of $517M. And it's betting further on DVDs' continued strength, also announcing yesterday that it is acquiring NCR's 10,000 Blockbuster Express DVD kiosks for approximately $100M, which will help it build out its international business.

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Verizon and Redbox parent Coinstar announced their much-rumored joint venture this morning, promising a "new single-source, national multi-platform" service to be launched in the second half of 2012. The new service is squarely aimed at competing with Netflix. However, neither the press release nor a 5-minute press call revealed any substantive details about the service (e.g. content available, pricing, geographic availability, etc.). Verizon will own 65% of the JV, with Coinstar owning the remainder.

On the surface the alliance makes sense, marrying streaming and DVD rentals. Verizon brings its massive wireless footprint and tens of millions of subscriber relationships to the JV, a huge promotional platform. Also, via its FiOS roll-outs, it has relationships with key content providers. For its part, Redbox brings its 35,000+ rental kiosks along with its own Hollywood relationships. Theoretically, some combination of the two could yield a compelling offering.

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Video stream optimization and analytics provider Conviva has raised a $15 million Series D round, led by Time Warner Investments. With the financing, Conviva has raised $59 million to date. The new funding is earmarked for international expansion and headcount growth.

Conviva's client-side software takes the "pulse" of video streams, and depending on problems detected, will preemptively modify the stream's bit rate and its source, switching CDNs on the fly. The result is a much-improved user experience.  Content providers are able to use the Conviva dashboard to analyze delivery, playback and of their video, along with viewer engagement.  Conviva optimizes streams for Time Warner divisions HBO and Turner Broadcasting, among other customers including ESPN, Netflix, Fox, NBCU and others. In total, Conviva is optimizing over 1 billion streams per month.

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