VideoNuze Posts

Yesterday’s announcement by Roku, that it would begin offering SVOD and ad-free premium cable TV networks (what Roku calls “Premium Subscriptions”) within The Roku Channel, is the latest sign that subscription video services are turning to bigger third party platforms to add and retain paying subscribers. Despite all the industry excitement over direct-to-consumer (“DTC”) business models, third party distribution remains critical.

Roku’s move evokes what Amazon has been doing with its Amazon Channels program for just over 3 years, which I've been bullish on from the beginning. Prime subscribers are able to choose from dozens of different small and large SVOD services and premium cable TV networks and have the fees billed directly to their credit card on file with Amazon. Free trials are commonplace and the content is viewed seamlessly within the Prime Video app on multiple devices.

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2018 has been another incredibly busy year in the video industry, with all participants investing heavily to position themselves for a future ever more driven by technology and consumer changes. Growth in SVOD, connected TV and mobile devices, data-driven advertising, cord-cutting, virtual pay-TV operators and original programming continue to remake the industry from top to bottom.

Analyzing and reporting on these changes continues to be an endless and fascinating challenge. Hopefully I’m contributing to industry executives better understanding the chaos and how to succeed. Through daily posts, VideoNuze’s annual Video Ad Summit (which drew 350+ attendees this past June), consulting, teaching and other activities, I am deeply immersed in the industry.

A huge thanks to all of the industry leading companies that have sponsored VideoNuze in 2018, without whom none of this would be possible.  And a big thank you to VideoNuze’s daily readers, podcast listeners and conference attendees. It’s an exciting time to be a part of the video industry and to help contribute to its ongoing evolution.  

I wish you and your families a happy, healthy holiday season and all the best in 2019!

I’m pleased to present the 448th edition of the VideoNuze podcast, with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.

Continuing our tradition for our final podcast of the year, this week Colin and I discuss the top 10 video stories of 2018 - at least in our humble opinions. Once again it has been a very active 12 months, with lots of innovation and change. Colin and I have had a great time analyzing and discussing the critical industry trends each week and we hope you’ve enjoyed listening to our thoughts in 2018.

Let us know what you think of our choices, whether you agree or disagree!

Listen in to learn more!

 
Click here to listen to the podcast (37 minutes, 16 seconds)

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The VideoNuze podcast is also available in iTunes...subscribe today!

New research from Altman Vilandrie & Company finds that access to live news, sports and new TV episodes are the primary reasons pay-TV subscribers are continuing to keep their service.

However, there are slight difference between those age 18-34 years old vs. those 35+. For the older group, the top reasons and the percentage cited were live news (70%), new TV episodes when aired (55%) and live sports (53%) whereas for the younger group, the top reasons were new TV episodes when aired and it is easier to find something to watch (both cited by 54%), live sports (51%) and live news (48%).

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I’m pleased to present the 447th edition of the VideoNuze podcast, with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.

It’s been a tough couple of months for fans of classic movie streaming video services, with AT&T pulling the plug on FlimStruck while another independent/classic movie service, Fandor, is laying off most of its staff and putting its assets up for sale.

On this week’s podcast we explore possible explanations for why these services  didn’t succeed, including relatively high monthly rates, lack of fit with target audiences, overall economics and more. Colin was a big FilmStruck fan, so he’s now going to have to find other outlets until the classic movies re-appear in the WarnerMedia’s SVOD service coming later in 2019.

Listen in to learn more!

 
Click here to listen to the podcast (21 minutes, 50 seconds)

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The VideoNuze podcast is also available in iTunes...subscribe today!
 

Beachfront, a leading video supply-side platform, said that connected TV ad requests jumped to approximately 30 billion in November, 2018, a stunning 1,640% increase from November, 2017 when it received approximately 1.8 billion requests.
Beachfront works mainly with mid-tail and long-tail video providers as well as virtual MVPDs.

Roku continues to dominate, with Beachfront saying that 87% of CTV ad requests in November ’18 were on Roku devices. Trailing well behind were Amazon Fire TV, LG, Samsung TV, Vizio and Chromecast, in that order.

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I’m pleased to present the 446th edition of the VideoNuze podcast, with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.

YouTube has long been the 800-pound gorilla of online video advertising; now it is positioning itself for further gains in premium video. On this week’s podcast, Colin and I discuss a couple of the highlights: YouTube’s recent decision to add over 100 movies for free, ad-supported viewing and to shift its originals strategy from an SVOD model (YouTube Premium) to ad-supported.

As we explore, there is another interesting angle here as well, which is the interplay between Roku and YouTube. As I wrote earlier this week, The Roku Channel’s success was no doubt an influence on YouTube’s decision to launch free movies. As well, Roku’s huge footprint of connected TVs (as well as others like Chromecast, etc.) has created a living room environment perfect for longer viewing times and a more TV-like experience that YouTube is capitalizing on.

Listen in to learn more!

 
Click here to listen to the podcast (22 minutes, 11 seconds)

Click here for previous podcasts

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The VideoNuze podcast is also available in iTunes...subscribe today!

Some great reporting from Ad Age over the past couple weeks reveals how Amazon and Google are ramping up in premium video advertising. Given the size and respective positioning of both companies, their initiatives are worth paying close attention to.

First, on Google, Ad Age reported that YouTube has begun to offer feature length movies like “The Terminator,” “Rocky” and “Legally Blonde” for free and with ad support (note all are also available on The Roku Channel). They’re part of around 100 movies YouTube has collected in a bid to further boost YouTube viewership and give advertisers more access to premium, brand safe content.

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