VideoNuze Posts

In another sign of programmatic video advertising's rising popularity among brand advertisers, Adap.tv's newly released 2014 State of the Video Industry report has found that 60% of brands' video ad spending is now allocated to programmatic channels. That compares with 44% for ad networks and 38% for agencies and trading desks.

However, when it comes to premium video, brands said just 23% of ad spending was done programmatically, reflecting how important publisher direct sales remains for the most coveted ad inventory. In fact, 51% of publishers said they're making premium ad inventory available for sale programmatically, up just slightly from 49% in 2013. Still, private marketplaces continue to gain, with 32% of publishers running one in 2014, up from 20% in 2013.

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Elemental Technologies, which has been known for its software encoding solutions, has broadened its product portfolio with the introduction of Elemental Delta, a comprehensive video delivery platform. Elemental Delta is for telco, OTT, broadcast, satellite and mobile operators seeking to deliver time-shifted TV including VOD, start-over TV and nPVR, across multiple devices.

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I'm pleased to present the 241st edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.

This week Colin and I debate Apple's priorities, as the company has chosen a major push into the smart watch category instead of pursuing smart TVs and more robust connected TV devices.

Earlier this week I wrote how I find it confounding that Apple hasn't been more proactive about staking a claim in the digital living room, even as Roku, TiVo, Google, Amazon and many others have. To me, it's a big missed opportunity for Apple that the company hasn't laid down as big a bet on the digital living room as it now has on watches.

Conversely, Colin thinks Apple has its priorities right. He articulates numerous reasons why the watch play is savvy and why Apple hasn't yet pursued the living room more aggressively. It's a solid debate with no clear right or wrong answers. Listen in and let us know what you think!

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Interest in cord-cutting remains relatively muted according to new data from Frank N. Magid Associates. The firm, which has been surveying consumers' attitudes towards cord-cutting each of the past 4 years, found 2.9% of respondents agreeing they're "very likely" to cancel their pay-TV service in the year ahead, a slight uptick from 2.7% found in 2013, 2.2% in 2012 and 1.9% in 2011.

Magid noted that the "very likely" level jumped to 4.9% for 25-34 year-olds, but dropped to 1.4% for those identifying themselves as ESPN viewers (live sports are widely believed to be the most formidable bulwark against cord-cutting).

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According to a new eMarketer forecast, in 2014 YouTube will account for 18.9% of the U.S. online video ad market, down from 21.2% in 2013. Still, YouTube will see a healthy 39.2% year-over-year net video ad revenue increase, from $810 million in '13 to $1.13 billion in '14. eMarketer forecasts YouTube's U.S. video ad revenue to continue growing, by 34.2% in '15 to $1.51 billion and by a further 18.3% in '16 to $1.75 billion.

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A new study from Brightcove has found that 76% of consumers cite video as their preferred content source when consuming brand information, with 79% overall favoring digital content over traditional. In addition, 24% of respondents said video is their "most trusted" source for brand content, with 44% of them saying video was more appealing, authentic (29%), engaging (28%) and shareable (10%) than other communication formats.

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Yesterday Apple launched two new iPhones, a payment system and a smart watch. But one thing it didn't launch was an actual Apple smart TV, or an upgraded version of its existing hockey puck Apple TV device.  

Of course, given the pre-event rumorathon, nobody really expected anything on the TV front yesterday. Whereas just a couple of years ago an Apple smart TV in particular was seen as inevitable - and just around the corner - talk of it has now virtually evaporated. While online video adoption has continued to surge, spurring a range of companies to stake claims in the digital living room, Apple has been silent, not even hinting that a bigger play in the living room is on its strategic roadmap. In my opinion that's a big missed opportunity.

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Kaltura has announced Kaltura OTT TV, a solution integrating pay OTT TV technology from recently acquired Tvinci, with its own video platform. Kaltura OTT TV is targeted to pay-TV operators looking to offer multi-screen OTT services on a paid and/or ad-supported basis.

Kaltura OTT TV supports server-side and native ad insertion for live and VOD content, in-app purchases, DRM, social features including Facebook login and recommendations and an electronic program guide. Each family member can set up an individual profile for personalized service and behavioral tracking across multiple screens.

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