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Netflix Raises $200 Million From TCV, Board Member's Investment Firm
Talk about keeping it all in the family: Netflix's newly issued $200 million convertible debt (part of a $400 million financing announced yesterday) was bought by Technology Crossover Ventures, an investment firm that was
co-founded by Netflix board of directors member Jay Hoag, and where Netflix's former CFO Barry McCarthy is now a venture partner. There's nothing untoward about the move and TCV is a long-time Netflix investor. In fact, given the pair's intimate understanding of Netflix's operations, the move could actually be interpreted as a real vote of confidence in the company's future. Or, on the other hand, it could be seen as a sort of hard-luck loan as the company struggles to regain its footing in the wake of massive recent missteps and aggressive expansion plans.
Categories: Aggregators, Deals & Financings
Topics: Netflix, Technology Crossover Ventures
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Specific Media Achieves 240% Gain in Reach One Year After BBE Deal
Specific Media, which acquired online video ad network and technology provider BBE one year ago, has since achieved an approximately 240% gain
in its video reach, to approximately 80 million viewers in October. Specific, which runs one of the largest display ad networks, has combined both companies' strengths in order to expand its footprint. Matt Wasserlauf, EVP of platforms and services at Specific and formerly head of BBE, explained to me last week that the video ad network has grown significantly by leveraging Specific's thousands of publisher relationships.
Categories: Advertising
Topics: BBE, Specific Media
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VideoNuze Report Podcast #111 - Boxee's Live TV Dongle
Daisy Whitney and I are pleased to present the 111th edition of the VideoNuze Report podcast, for Nov. 18, 2011. This week, Daisy and I discuss Boxee's new Live TV dongle and broader trends around pay-TV cord-cutting. The range of devices and video choices is opening up interesting new opportunities to segment consumers out of traditional pay-TV bundles, but change will unfold over the long-term. Listen in to learn more!
Click here to listen to the podcast (10 minutes, 14 seconds)
Click here for previous podcasts
The VideoNuze Report is available in iTunes...subscribe today!
(Note: After 111 great podcasts together, Daisy and I are going to take a break for now. We hope you've enjoyed!)
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Brand Lift Gains Momentum As Online Video Ad Campaign Metric
Traditional ways of measuring the effectiveness of online video campaigns such as click-through and completion rates are being enhanced with brand lift metrics such as awareness and intent that are common in other forms of advertising. The latest indicator is that Adap.tv, an online video advertising marketplace, has integrated Vizu's Ad Catalyst solution, which measures brand lift, to offer this capability to its clients. Yesterday the companies released a case study which speaks to the new insights online video advertisers can gain from studying brand lift as well.
Categories: Advertising
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Research: Heavier Ad Loads Don't Turn Off On-Demand Viewers
Over the past several years, as more networks have begun delivering their TV programs for free online, a pressing question has been how "heavy" an ad load is appropriate to include. Too many unskippable ads and the viewer could be turned off to the new medium; too few and the network would undermine its own P&L as viewing behavior shifts online (see my post quantifying these risks). While it's still too early to know precisely where to strike the balance, new research released yesterday indicates viewers' acceptance of heavier ad loads in on-demand programs is actually quite high.
Categories: Advertising, Video On Demand
Topics: AAMP, BlackArrow
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Boxee Aggressively Pursues Cord-Cutters With New Live TV Dongle
Connected device maker Boxee is aggressively going after pay-TV cord-cutters with a new Live TV dongle it is introducing this morning. The dongle plugs into a USB slot on the Boxee box and takes in a feed of live broadcast channels accessed from either an HD antenna or via a pay-TV provider (note there's always a tier of local broadcast channels available without a set-top box, however the number and quality varies widely). Boxee's CEO Avner Ronen walked me through the logic of who it is appealing to as well as the key challenges for success.
Categories: Cable TV Operators, Devices, Satellite, Telcos
Topics: Boxee
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YuMe Snags $12 Million from Samsung, Translink Capital for Ad-Enabled Connected TVs
YuMe has raised $12 million from Samsung Ventures and Translink Capital to continue integrating its ad technology into connected "Smart TVs." Just two
weeks ago, YuMe announced the first such integration, with LG's Smart TVs. In that deal, YuMe's new Embedded SDK is being integrated into the firmware of the TVs, with access to YuMe's Connected Audience Network and its ACE for Publishers ad platform. The significance of all that is that in-stream video ads can be more effectively delivered to Smart TVs while leveraging the scale already achieved in online video, as they continue to proliferate.
Categories: Advertising, Devices
Topics: Samsung Ventures, Translink Capital, YuMe
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Buffering: Video Engagement's #1 Enemy
If you're like me, then you've no doubt experienced the frustration of trying to watch an online video only to have it periodically pause and then re-start, sometimes repeatedly. The pausing triggers a decision of whether to hang in there and hope things improve, or just bail out and move on to the next activity. These "buffering" moments are the bane of the content provider's existence - suppressing viewership, reducing monetization and frustrating users. And the causes can vary, including possible issues with the CDN, broadband ISP, computer, player software, etc.
Though the buffering problem is omnipresent, I haven't seen its consequences quantified as well as on a free new infographic from video optimization technology provider Conviva. By embedding its software in client-side video players, Conviva has a unique view into users' video experiences across numerous content customers including HBO GO, ESPN, Netflix, Fox, NBCU and others.
When Conviva detects an issue with the user's video streaming experience, it intervenes appropriately, for example, switching CDNs, reducing the stream's bit-rate, diagnosing network-related problems and so forth. Conviva now optimizes more than 1 billion streams per month, which speaks to how widespread delivery issues are. The result is improved engagement - a higher-quality stream, better user experience and stronger monetization.
Among the key data points in the infographic:
Categories: Technology
Topics: Conviva
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