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Video Interview: HBO Co-President Eric Kessler at VideoSchmooze
A highlight of last week's VideoSchmooze:NYC Online Video Leadership Forum was the leadoff fireside interview I did with Eric Kessler, HBO's co-president. Our conversation focused on HBO GO, the streaming app that HBO officially launched on May 1st, which has received approximately 5 million downloads to date.
In the interview, Eric offers a comprehensive explanation of how HBO's business model works and the value-added role that HBO GO plays in extending subscribers' life-cycle. He provides a slew of new data points on HBO usage by content type and device, as well as how it's changing subscribers' perceptions of HBO. Eric also notes that the most critical decision HBO made was to include virtually all of its programs' episodes in HBO GO, although the move undermined its lucrative home video/DVD business for a segment of buyers.
Categories: Cable Networks, Events, People
Topics: HBO, VideoSchmooze
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YouTube's Redesign: The Long-Term Siege on Pay-TV Begins
Yesterday YouTube launched its most significant redesign yet, with a strong emphasis on channelizing the site, deeply personalizing the experience, and integrating social interaction throughout. As the introductory blog post says, the redesign is all about helping users "discover a broader range of entertainment on YouTube." And though YouTube would never admit it, I think the redesign marks the start of a long-term siege on the traditional pay-TV model. YouTube is squarely focused on would-be cord-cutters and especially the younger generation of "cord-nevers" for whom the web has already become a bona fide alternative to expensive pay-TV services.
Categories: Aggregators, Cable Networks, Cable TV Operators, Satellite, Telcos
Topics: YouTube
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VideoNuze Report Podcast #112 - Facebook's Video Opportunities
I'm pleased to be joined by Colin Dixon, senior partner at The Diffusion Group, for the 112th edition of the VideoNuze Report podcast, for Dec. 2, 2011. Today Colin and I discuss how Facebook has become a leader in online video and the range of opportunities it has ahead. Earlier this week I reported how Facebook was ranked as the #2 video site in October by comScore, with nearly 60 million viewers. Though YouTube is still by far the biggest online video site, Facebook has made huge progress over the past year. Listen in to learn more!
Click here to listen to the podcast (16 minutes, 25 seconds)
Click here for previous podcasts
The VideoNuze Report is available in iTunes...subscribe today!Categories: Podcasts, Social Media
Topics: comScore, Facebook, Podcast
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HBO GO: 98 Million Streams to Date and Staying Exclusive
In an interview with me at yesterday's VideoSchmooze, HBO co-president Eric Kessler said that HBO GO has delivered 98 million video streams to date. HBO GO is offered at no extra cost to existing HBO subscribers as long as their pay-TV provider and HBO have agreed to make the service available. Eric also noted that HBO intends for HBO GO to remain the sole streaming outlet for its programs as it believes this type of exclusivity is a key differentiator vs. aggregators like Netflix, Amazon and others, most of whose content is non-exclusive. Clearly this is what HBO GO users want: over 70% of viewership has been for HBO's original programs.
Categories: Cable Networks
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VideoSchmooze is Today
I'm hosting VideoSchmooze:NYC Online Video Leadership Forum this morning at the Harvard Club of NYC. We have a great program planned, and I'll be sharing video-recordings of all the sessions in the coming days. Keep an eye on #videonuze at Twitter for reactions throughout the morning.
Categories: Events
Topics: VideoSchmooze
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Facebook Surges to Number 2 Video Site in October: comScore
Social media juggernaut Facebook surged into the number 2 position for unique video viewers on comScore's U.S. online video ranking for October, 2011. This is the highest rank Facebook has achieved, and its 59.8 million viewers nudged it past VEVO at 57 million, which was down just slightly from September. Facebook's unique viewers jumped approximately 10 million from its September total of approximately 50 million viewers. The big October bump comes after a relatively flat past 12 months of viewers, though a doubling of monthly video views (see charts below). In October alone, Facebook's total video views increased to 346 million, 37% higher than September.
Categories: Social Media
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With New Disney Deal, Is YouTube Poised to Disrupt Online Movie Rentals?
Last Wednesday, just before the Thanksgiving break, YouTube announced a deal with Walt Disney Studios which will make hundreds of new and classic
movies from Disney, Pixar and DreamWorks available for rental. The Disney deal adds to the online movie rentals (or "iVOD" as this category is also known) initiative YouTube announced last May. Between the breadth of movies soon to be available, its aggressive pricing - including $.99 rentals on recently-released blockbusters, its integration in numerous connected devices and of course, its status as the online video market's 800-pound gorilla, YouTube may just have what it takes to disrupt the iVOD market, impacting the broader Hollywood and movie distribution industries.
Categories: Aggregators, FIlms, Studios, Video On Demand
Topics: Amazon, Apple, Disney, iTunes, Netflix, YouTube
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Tickets Still Available for VideoSchmooze One Week From Today
There are still a few tickets available for VideoSchmooze:NYC Online Video Leadership Forum one week from today, Wed., Nov. 30th at the Harvard Club
of NYC from 7:30am-11am. There are approximately 200 industry executives registered, spanning all facets of the online video world, which promises an exciting morning of learning and networking.
We'll lead off with remarks and a fireside chat with Eric Kessler, co-president of HBO. Eric will be sharing a batch of user data for HBO GO for the first time, as well as discussing the product strategy, roadmap and competitive landscape. HBO GO has set the standard for TV Everywhere deployments, and with recent integrations with Roku, Xbox 360 and Samsung connected TVs, HBO is continuing to broaden access to it.
Following Eric's session we'll have 2 panel discussions. The first will focus on online video advertising's opportunities and challenges in 2012 and features executives from YouTube, Yahoo, VivaKi, FreeWheel and Kantar Video. The second panel will explore delivering value for the multi-platform consumer and includes executives from Comcast, CBS, Roku, and Irdeto, which I'll moderate. During the morning we'll also have a short presentation from Tremor Video on its new VideoHub product. All of these sessions will drill into the key industry issues and allow time for audience Q&A.
In short, if being fully up-to-speed on online video is crucial for you and your business in 2012, then VideoSchmooze is a must-attend event.
VideoSchmooze is made possible through the generous support of lead sponsors FreeWheel, Irdeto and Tremor Video plus supporting sponsors Akamai Technologies, Innovid, One Touch Intelligence and TidalTV.
I hope to see you at VideoSchmooze!
LEARN MORE AND REGISTER NOW!Categories: Events
Topics: VideoSchmooze
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