VideoNuze Posts

I'm pleased to present the 203rd edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia. This week, Colin and I were in Hollywood at BroadbandTV Con, which brought together a large crowd of digital media executives. In the podcast we discuss some of our key observations including AOL's success in online video, the role of online video advertising in funding long-form high-quality originals, whether sports will leak out of the traditional pay-TV ecosystem and how one studio executive thinks there's no going back to appointment TV viewing.

At the beginning of the podcast we also touch on this week's new IHS forecast that global TV shipments will decline for the second straight year, the first time this has ever happened.

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Research firm IHS has updated its forecast for 2013 global TV shipments, now predicting a decline of 5% for the full year. This would be the second consecutive down year, following a 7% falloff in 2012 (I'm confirming whether this is the first time IHS has ever seen consecutive year declines. UPDATE: IHS has confirmed this is the first-ever 2 year consecutive decline). Shipments for 2013 are now estimated at 226.7 million units. IHS believes 2014 shipments will increase by just 1% in 2014 to 229 million units.

IHS analyst Jusy Hong noted that there are a number of reasons for the 2013 decline, but the main ones are global economic weakness and maturity of the TV market in advanced regions. Just last week, IHS released a survey on Smart TVs, showing relatively high awareness, but low purchase intent in the U.S. as price emerged as the top decision-making driver, eclipsing screen size.

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The Web Video Marketing Council (WVMC) has released its 3rd annual report on online video marketing showing that 93% of respondents are using online video for marketing, up from 84% in 2012. Also, 71% said they are increasing their budgets in 2013. The report surveyed over 600 marketing professionals about their use of online video in mostly B2B and some B2C organizations.

One of the more interesting findings was that 60% of marketers are using online video on e-mails, an increase of 8% from 2012. About 82% said that integrating video with email marketing was either “effective” or “very effective” and has had a positive impact on sales and marketing.

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Early bird discounted registration for the next VideoSchmooze: Online Video Leadership Forum, on Tues. morning, Dec. 3rd in NYC ends this Friday. If you've been on the fence about whether to attend, now is the time to act! Individual tickets are $95. Bring your colleagues and save more with a 5-pack for $430 and a 10-pack for $760.

Remember, ONLY early bird ticket holders will be eligible to win the drawings for an iPad, the complete "Breaking Bad" series on Blu-ray/UltraViolet and several Chromecasts, all generously provided by Unicorn Media.  

This will be the 10th VideoSchmooze and as usual it's shaping up to be a high impact morning of learning and networking. The VideoSchmooze program is a 360 degree view into all of the video industry's most important topics.

The lead sponsors for this 10th VideoSchmooze are FreeWheel, Synacor, thePlatform and Undertone, with branding sponsors Clearleap, Unicorn Media and VideoHub. If you need to be up-to-date on what's really going on in video, and want a premier networking opportunity, make sure VideoSchmooze is on your calendar for Dec. 3rd!

LEARN MORE AND REGISTER NOW!

Amazon's PR machine is gearing up to support the company's imminent push into original programming, with a high-profile piece on Saturday in the Wall Street Journal and today in the NY Times. In both, Amazon video executives are quoted explaining the process by which Amazon selected its first crop of originals, with a particular focus on Garry Trudeau's "Alpha House," the first series that will launch on November 15. No doubt we'll see lots more PR around Amazon's subsequent originals' release.

The PR emphasis is a departure for famously reticent Amazon, but its presence is a sign of how strategic original video has become for the company, and how high the stakes are for it to succeed. Over the past 2 years Amazon has become much more competitive with Netflix in licensing hit TV programs from networks and studios to be included for its Prime members. Now the battleground is shifting to originals.

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I'm pleased to present the 202nd edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.

This week we dig into why Smart TVs are going to be increasingly challenged by connected TV devices like Chromecast, Roku, Apple TV and others. As my colleague Jose Alvear wrote yesterday, new IHS research shows relatively low purchase intent for Smart TVs, despite high awareness. Price has emerged as the top driver for consumers, which means inexpensive connected TV devices will become more attractive alternatives for OTT viewing.

This is all part of a larger context for how TVs will be integrated with mobile devices in the home. Colin notes that discovery is best suited to mobile devices, but the critical link to the TV's set-top box is still missing. Some operators like Comcast are fixing this, but for tens of millions of homes the TV remains essentially an island unto itself. This is certain to change in the years ahead as new devices proliferate.

Listen in to learn more!

Click here to listen to the podcast (19 minutes, 15 seconds)

Click here for previous podcasts

Click here to add the podcast feed to your RSS reader.

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

(Note: Colin and I will both be in LA next week at BroadbandTV Con. If you're attending, send us a note and let's meet up. VideoNuze readers get $75 off registration using the code "VideoNuze.")

When Comcast said earlier this week that it was increasing to 35 the number of channels available for out-of-home streaming for its subscribers, available on iOS and Android mobile devices (in addition to computers), it was another powerful sign of how TV is moving beyond the traditional confines of the living room and set-top box.

But as I thought about how robust this new out-of-home offering will be, it got me wondering, again, about the risk of subscribers sharing their passwords with non-subscribers. "Do no harm" is a key mantra among all media companies these days who must take care not to have new services or features undermine traditional value propositions. Until now this hasn't been a big issue for Comcast with its out-of-home streaming feature, as it included only on-demand content and a limited number of live channels which were solely viewable on computers. It was interesting package, but not super-compelling.

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Today I'm pleased to introduce the newest VideoNuze contributor, Jose Alvear, who is a research analyst specializing in the pay-TV and online video industries. Jose has authored research reports on content delivery networks, IPTV, OTT video, cloud-based TV and social TV for leading firms in the industry. Jose is currently working on a book focusing on the disruption of the TV industry.

Survey: Price Sensitivity and Connected TV Devices Cloud Picture for Smart TV Adoption

by Jose Alvear

Researcher IHS released survey results earlier this week suggesting a muted forecast for Smart TVs amid rising consumer price sensitivity and a proliferation of inexpensive connected TV devices. IHS found that 73% of U.S. consumers are not interested in buying a Smart TV in the next 12 months. IHS said that once consumers are educated about Smart TVs and learn more about their features, interest does increase. Overall awareness of Smart TVs is high, at 86%, with 30% expressing purchase intent over the next 12 months.

But how intent translates into actual purchase is always tenuous and in this case, particularly so. That's because IHS also found that price has now vaulted to the top position as a driver for TV purchases, surpassing "screen size," which had been cited by more than 50% of respondents in 2012.

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